Road Trip
by penneyxx
Summary: Alice decides to take her best friend, Bella, on a trip to see her boyfriend, Jasper, and his room mate, Edward. When Bella finds out that she's going to be living with them for a week, what will she decide to do? Better summary inside. All human.
1. First Sight

**Summary: Alice and Bella have been friends for years. One day, Alice decides to take Bella on a road trip to see her boyfriend, Jasper, and his room mate, Edward, who are both studying in college. When Bella finds out that Alice had planned for them to live with the boys for the next week, how will Bella react? More importantly, how will Bella and Edward react to _each other_? Will Alice and Jasper succeed in trying to get them together?**

**Rating might change. It'll get better in later chapters. Please review!**

* * *

Alice and I had been friends since we were in middle school. She was the first friend I made when I first moved to Forks, and ever since then, we had been inseparable. Yes, we were complete opposites, but we built our friendship off of that. Alice was always hyper and was _completely_ obsessed with shopping. So whenever I was having a bad hair day or felt uncomfortable in my clothes, I would go to her and she would give me a complete head-to-toe makeover. It always made me feel better about myself, and soon, I found myself going to Alice's house every day to get ready for school. I am very book-smart, so whenever Alice had a big test to study for, she would come over to my house and we would spend all night studying together. Of course, Alice would always get a good grade on her tests after she studied with me.

We were always there when we needed each other. She was there for me when my boyfriend, Mike, broke up with me just a week before the prom. She was also there for me when he _showed up_ to prom with Jessica Stanley, my now ex-best friend. I was there for her when her old crush, Eric, stood her up for their first date. I was there for her when she met her current boyfriend, Jasper, and I was there for her when he moved away for college. No one could deny that our friendship was genuine, and some people even said that we seemed less like friends and more like sisters.

Alice had no real brothers or sisters, but she treated Jasper's twin sister, Rosalie, as a part of her family. Rosalie was nice, but she never seemed to like me. I had only met her a couple of times, but every time I saw her, it was always awkward. Alice also thought of my older brother, Emmett, as her own brother. And who couldn't? He was probably the sweetest boy in my life, and everyone who had ever met him couldn't help but fall in love with him.

Jasper went to a small university a few hours away from Forks. It might've been a small school, but it was probably one of the best in the area. It was the only school he applied to, and fortunately, he got in. At first, Alice had been upset about the distance, but after I explained to her that he could've applied somewhere else that was farther away, she accepted it. God, it was so easy to make Alice happy.

She made very frequent trips to visit him, almost every weekend. And whenever she couldn't go there, he would pack up his things and come to visit her. I was used to her being gone every weekend, I always used it as an excuse to spend some quality time with my dad, Charlie. If my dad was busy, then I would get together with my close friend Angela, and we would spend the entire weekend hanging out either at the mall or at her house. If neither Angela or my dad could spend time with me, which was very rare, I knew I could count on my friend Jacob. He always seemed ready to drive from La Push to Forks to spend the day with me, and always had a smile on his face when he saw me. He was very sweet, but sometimes I couldn't help but wonder if he wanted to be_ more _than just friends.

On one weekend, I was about to call Angela to ask her if she wanted to go somewhere that day when Alice came skipping into my room with a very peculiar offer. She asked if she could take me with her to visit Jasper that weekend. Of course, I was very taken aback. I knew that Jasper and Alice liked their privacy, and I didn't want to ruin one of their weekends together. She could tell I was a bit unsure when she asked me, and quickly tried to calm me down.

"Oh, don't worry, Bella, we don't mind at all! Jasper was actually the one who asked me to invite you," she told me enthusiastically. "You see, he has this room mate in college, and he got some tickets to this BIG music festival this weekend. He had some extra tickets, so Jasper invited me, and now I'm inviting you!"

I rolled my eyes jokingly at Alice, finally seeing where her little plan was going to. _She_ was going to be with Jasper the entire time, so she was planning on having _me_ be with Jasper's room mate the entire time. "Alice, if you're just trying to hook me up with another guy, don't even try-" I began, but was quickly silenced when she placed her index finger over my lips.

"Bella, don't argue with me. I'm not setting you up with anyone. It's just that we have extra tickets and I wanted to invite you!" she pouted, bringing her hand away from my lips. "Why would you even think that, Bella?"

I averted my eyes from her, refusing to be influenced by her puppy-dog pout. That pout could make anyone give into whatever Alice wanted, and she used it whenever she could. It really was unfair. I sighed, grabbing Alice's small hand and forcing myself to look up at her. The pout was still there. I opened my mouth, preparing to turn down her invitation, but I just... _couldn't_. Not when she had that look on her face. Feeling defeated, I dropped my head and slowly nodded. "Fine, fine. I'll go with you," I mumbled.

She squealed and stood up, giving me a quick hug. She pulled her phone out of a pocket in her jeans and quickly flipped it open. "I _have _to tell Jazz!" she screamed, pressing the phone to her ear. She turned on her heel and nearly sprinted towards the door, but stopped at the threshold. She turned halfway and looked at me, a smile spreading across her face. "You better start packing, we're leaving tomorrow!" she called out to me. And with that, she turned and skipped out into the hall.

* * *

Keeping in mind that we were only leaving for the weekend, I packed lightly, only taking a couple of shirts, two pairs of pants, and one extra pair of shoes. Alice said she would be bringing all of the toiletries that we needed, and that she already had some things at Jasper's apartment, so I didn't have to worry about that. I was glad that Alice was always so prepared, it gave me less to worry about.

The drive there was four hours long. I tried to sleep for some part of it, but Alice refused to turn down the volume on the radio, so it kept me up the entire time. Instead, I stared out the window at the passing scenery. It was so pretty outside, it was a shame that we had to drive. But as I thought about walking or biking all the way to Jasper's apartment, which would probably double the time, I quickly felt relieved that we were driving.

Time really did fly by when I was with Alice, the four hours seemed more like one hour. After I gave up on sleeping and when staring out the window became boring, we both began singing along to every song that played on the radio together. We really did go all out, we pretended as if we were on stage at a rock concert. Alice got so into it at one point, she nearly got into an accident with another car. I'm sure that people who were passing by us must've thought we were crazy, but we didn't care. We were having too much fun to notice.

Soon, we were pulling up infront of Jasper's apartment building. It was about three stories high and looked like it was squished between the two buildings next to it, but it did seem like a nice place to live. It looked cozy. While I was examining the building, Alice got out of the car and began to unload our bags from the trunk. I had only brought one duffel bag, while Alice brought _at least_ 10 bags with her. It really made me wonder why she needed to bring so much stuff to Jasper's house even though she already _had_ an entire closet full of things there.

I pushed open the car door and slowly stepped out. I saw Alice by the front door of the apartment, speaking into the intercom, and knew she was asking Jasper to come help us with our luggage. I stretched out my arms infront of me and yawned, feeling more tired than ever. I suddenly realized that it was very warm outside, and decided to take off my sweatshirt. I slowly pulled it off, enjoying the breeze that I felt on my arms. I was now left in my most comfortable sweatpants and a white v-neck shirt. I'll admit, it wasn't the most _attractive_ outfit, but it was very comfortable during the four hour drive.

I didn't have to look up to know that Jasper had already come down, Alice's squeals confirmed that for me. I laughed to myself as I walked around the car to where my bag was lying on the ground. I picked it up and zipped it open, stuffing my sweatshirt inside. I slung it over my shoulder and was preparing myself to grab some of Alice's bags when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I froze. I knew that Jasper was over by the door greeting Alice, so who...?

"Here, let me take that," I heard a smooth, silky voice come from next to me. I quickly turned my head to see who this person was, and felt my heart skip a beat.

"Oh, Bella, I see you've already met Edward!" Alice yelled out to me. She giggled, and I think she might've said something else, but I wasn't really paying attention to her anymore.

This boy, Edward, might've been the most beautiful person I had ever met. Before, I thought Rosalie was beautiful, but Edward had just set a new record. He had bronze-colored hair that was untidy, it looked like he had just gotten out of bed. Sure, it was messy, but he still looked incredible. His eyes were an exotic shade of green and were absolutely mesmerizing. I could feel my head begin to spin, so I quickly averted my gaze from his eyes. I looked at his facial features, and how intense everything about him looked. Every feature was so defined. I didn't want to give him a complete once-over right then and there, because I could feel him staring at me. I gulped and took a step back, still clutching my bag. It wasn't safe for me to be that close to him, god knows what I would've done next.

Suddenly, Alice was by my side and Jasper was standing next to Edward. By the look on Jasper's face, I could tell he was very amused by my reaction to Edward. And yet, it also looked like he had expected it. I raised my eyebrows at him, then quickly turned to look at Alice. She was smiling at Jasper, which completely gave away their motives.

They were _still _trying to set me up with Edward.

I gasped. I wouldn't take it, I wouldn't go with their plans, no matter how insanely gorgeous he was. I wasn't going to let Alice win, I couldn't let her lead my life for me. I could find someone to be with on my own, I didn't need someone to do it _for_ me. Besides, I was a senior in high school now, I wasn't worried about finding a boyfriend. I _was _worried about the fact that I had a deadline to pick which college I was planning on going to, and I had three amazing schools to choose from. Jasper actually went to one of the three schools that I was choosing from, and it was part of the reason why I came here.

I sighed and tried to collect my thoughts. I was here to spend time with Alice, I was here to go to a music festival, I was here to see the college. I _wasn't_ here to meet or to have anything to do with Edward. Right now, he was Public Enemy #1.

"Uh, here, let me take your bags, Alice," Jasper stammered. Alice quickly pulled me out of the way to allow Jasper to grab some of her bags. He attempted to pick up all of them, but failed miserably. Edward was quickly at his side, picking up the bags Jasper couldn't. There were about four of them left, yet he picked them up easily in one hand. He then turned to me, an amazing smile playing on his face. "May I take your bag, Bella?" he asked me.

For a second, I forgot how to breathe. His eyes were so intoxicating, so beautiful, I couldn't help but get lost in them. I mentally slapped myself as I tried to remember the reasons why I was here again. _I'm not here for Edward, I'm not here for Edward_. "Uh, no thanks, I think I can carry it myself," I answered him.

"Oh, come on, Bella. Just let him take your bag," Alice pressed. She nudged me with her elbow a few times, but immediately stopped when I glared at her.

"No, really, it's alright. I think I can handle it," I answered her, thankful that I could keep my anger out of my voice. I then turned back to face Edward, a playful smile on my face. "Thank you, though."

His dazzling smile was still there, and I could feel my breath get caught in my throat. "Any time, Bella," he replied, turning on his heel to follow Jasper back into the apartment. Alice and I watched him as he opened the door with one hand, still balancing Alice's bags in the other, and disappeared into the building.

When he was finally out of sight, I decided that it was time I taught Alice a little lesson. I turned to her and saw her staring at me with narrowed eyes, a smirk playing on her face. And that's when I lost control.

I tackled her to the ground, pinning her legs down with my own and holding her arms down with my hands. She wiggled around, trying to get herself out of my grasp, but I was stronger than her, and bigger. I didn't wait for her to calm down, I immediatly began screaming at her. "ALICE!! How_ dare_ you try to set me up with your boyfriend's room mate? Even after you _swore _to me you weren't trying to do that? Uch! How could someone so tiny be so _evil?_" I yelled. This seemed to be having the opposite effect on her, because she began to giggle uncontrollably. I must've looked shocked, but I wasn't done with my speech. I smirked down at her, almost daring her to continue to laugh. "If you try to do _anything_ to bring me and Edward together, I will make you regret it. Do _not_ mess with me this weekend, Alice. Don't you even _dare._"

By now Alice had stopped laughing, but she still had a small smile on her face. "We're not staying for the weekend, Bella," she nearly whispered. "Don't you remember? We have the next week off from school. We're here for the next 11 days!

I let her words sink in for a few seconds, and then I froze. _What? Was she serious?_ "The next 11 days? Alice! Are you serious?" I stood up off of her and took a few steps back. My legs hit the car, which forced me to lean back onto it. "I only brought enough clothes for the weekend! What are we going to do here for the next _11 days,_ Alice?" I screamed at her.

Alice jumped up and bounced over to me, placing her small hands on my shoulders. "Bella, Bella, Bella. Why do you ever doubt me? I have everything planned out!" she assured me. "Now calm down, you're going to go prematurely grey."

She grabbed my hand and dragged me away from the car, towards the front door of the apartment building. I was literally in a daze, still trying to think about what we could possibly be doing here for 11 days. Alice pulled the door open and skipped inside. She turned to the left and opened the door to the stairwell and began to run up, still dragging me along with her. I would've complained, but I was still not thinking properly._ 11 days?!_

By the time I came back to reality, we were already inside of Jasper's apartment. I was standing my the door next to Alice, who was still clutching onto my hand. I blinked and took in my surroundings. We were standing in the living room. There was a small table on the left side, it looked like it would be big enough to fit four people. On the opposite side of the room was a big-screen TV with a stereo next to it and some CDs lying in front of it. Across from the TV was what used to be the couch, but had been unraveled and was now a bed. There was a door next to the TV that led to the bedroom and a door next to the table which led to the kitchen.

I felt a pull on my head and turned to face Alice. She was staring at me with wide-eyes and a very confused expression on her face. "Bella? Did you hear me?" she asked. I blinked and shook my head, trying to remember if I had heard her say anything. Was my brain still not functioning properly?

She sighed and let go of my hand, taking a few steps in front of me. "I said that Jasper said you could put your bag into Edward's room now," she repeated. "It's right over-" she was about to raise her hand to point out the direction to his room, but I quickly stopped her mid-sentence.

"Alice, I am not staying in the same room as Edward. I can sleep on the couch," I told her. She turned to me with a mocking smile. Was this also part of her brilliant plan? I was about to open my mouth to yell something else at her, when I felt someone grab my right hand. I gulped. Before I could say anything, I heard a soft voice come from behind me.

"_I'll_be sleeping on the couch, Bella. You two are our guests. We want you to be comfortable," I heard Edward say. I looked down at our hands, and knew that I should've pulled away, but I couldn't. I was frozen, and probably blushing like mad. I didn't turn to face him, afraid that if I looked at his too perfect face, I would say something stupid.

I was very reluctant to pull my hand away from his, but I had to. I crossed my arms across my chest and turned halfway so that I could still see Alice and Jasper standing a few feet away from me. I turned slowly to face him, trying to control my breathing. "Yes, exactly, I'm a guest, and I refuse to make you move out of your own room. You sleep there, I'll sleep on the couch." I was surprised by how confident my voice sounded, it didn't show how completely vulnerable I was at that moment. I hoped that Edward would buy it.

But as I stared at his face, I saw his smile slowly become a mocking smirk, and knew he had other plans in mind. "Alright, how about this," he began. "If you want, you can sleep on the couch tonight, and let's see how you like it in the morning." He sounded very sarcastic, as if he were joking, but I was taking his offer very seriously.

I pressed my lips together and thought his offer over. It seemed fair enough, and he wouldn't have to move out of his room. With that in mind, I nodded and smiled. I watched as his smirk slowly faded, and he slightly frowned. It was obvious that he was hoping that I would reject his offer. I smiled even more now.

"Well, okay then, I guess you can just put your things down by the couch, Bella," I heard Jasper say. With the smile still on my face, I turned away from Edward and walked over to the makeshift bed, dropping my bag ontop of it.

I then turned back to face everyone else. Jasper and Alice weren't there anymore, and I quickly skimmed the room for them. When did they leave? Jasper was just there a minute ago. I sighed, shifting my gaze a fraction. I then found myself looking at Edward, who was staring right back at me. His eyes were narrowed, as if he were trying to figure something out. I gulped and looked down, blushing instantly. I didn't like being stared at like that, it made me so... self-conscious.

I sighed and quickly stuffed my hands into my jean pockets. I knew that these next 11 days would be the_ longest_ days of my life.


	2. Books

After I unpacked all of my things, which didn't take that long, I decided to look around the apartment. There really wasn't much to see, but I was going to be staying here for a while, so I might as well get to know the place. Alice and Jasper were doing god knows what in his room, and Edward was off somewhere else, so I was left with no other choice.

I started with the living room, since it was where I would be spending the majority of my time in the apartment. I looked through the CD collection that was under the TV, and I was quite impressed. Whoever bought all of the CDs had very good taste in music. Next to the CDs were all of the DVDs they owned. There weren't a lot, and the ones that were there weren't that great. I'll admit, I was a bit disappointed, but I'm sure there would be other things to watch on TV. And I was positive Alice would probably keep us busy most of the time we were there.

I then moved on to some shelves that were next to the TV that caught my interest. They had books in them, _a lot_of books. They all looked very old, as if they had been read dozens of times. Some of the covers were falling off, and some even looked like they were missing pages. But still, there were so many interesting books there. This also impressed me. I took out one of the older looking books and opened it up to the first page. There, in the left hand corner, was a name written in beautiful script. _Edward Cullen._ I sighed and grabbed another book, one that actually had no cover, and looked at the front. _Edward Cullen_ was also written in this one. I rolled my eyes and put the books back, thinking it was just a coincidence. Edward couldn't have read _all _of these books... right?

I turned on my heel to move on to the kitchen, but I was still so interested by the books. What if these _were _all of his? I sighed and stepped back to the shelves, grabbing three random books. I held two in my right hand and the third one in my left, flipping the front cover open. _Edward Cullen_. I took another one into my left hand and opened it as well. _Edward Cullen._ Now I was just getting frustrated. Couldn't one of these books be Jasper's? I sighed and opened the last one, and had to do a double take. There was _no_name in this one. I quickly flipped to the next page, and then became annoyed again. There it was in the left hand corner, just as it was in all of the rest.

I was debating whether or not to look through all of the books at that point, wondering if anyone would really mind the mess I would have to make, when I felt something cool on the back of my neck. I would've reached back to scratch it, but I had books in both of my hands. So I ignored it and continued to argue with myself in my head. _Should I? If I just find _one_ that doesn't belong to him, I'll be okay, I just need to know that he doesn't own ALL-_

Then I felt it again, the cool air on the back of my neck. Only this time it felt like it was closer, as if some one were right behind me-

Without thinking, I spun around and found myself face to face with Edward. I screamed and dropped all of the books I was holding, backing up until I hit the shelves. I hit them with such force, I sent some of the books flying down onto the floor along with the other ones that were already there. I covered my mouth with my hands, refusing to let myself scream again. Edward, on the other hand, seemed completely calm and very amused by my reaction. It was obvious that he was trying to hold back his laughter.

He took a step towards me, and my heart instantly began to speed up. "Do you like the books?" he asked me calmly, a small smile playing on his face. He knew what he was doing to me, and he found it _funny._I narrowed my eyes. His smile grew, and he took another unnecessary step towards me, waiting for my answer.

I decided that I didn't want to play along with his little game, I just wanted to get straight to the point. "Do you really own _all_of these books?" I questioned him. He smiled even more now, and slowly nodded his head. "Aren't any of these Jasper's?"

"Maybe one of them is, but all the rest are mine," he said, his smile fading. "Most of them are for school, and I guess I should've gotten rid of them, but... I like to reread things." He shifted his gaze to the shelves behind me, looking at all of the books he had collected.

"Me too!" I said without thinking. I instantly regretted saying it, remembering that I was _supposed_ to be acting annoyed. I bit my lip and felt my cheeks burn up. "I mean... some of the books are just so interesting, you know? I would just feel bad if I threw them away."

He bent down on one knee to grab one of the books that I dropped, looking up at me as he did so. "What books did they make you read at Forks High?" he asked as he collected all of the books. I didn't want him to have to clean up all by himself, so I quickly dropped to my knees and began to pick up everything that was around me.

"Most of the books we had to read there I had already read in my old school, so I didn't even read them again. Some of them I actually liked, so I just reread those, like... _Wuthering Heights_," I told him. I felt like I was giving out too much information, but it was just so easy to talk to him. I didn't feel stupid about telling him all of this, and he actually seemed interested.

But my feelings suddenly changed when I saw his beautiful smile turn into a frown, and I swore his once mesmerizing eyes now looked angry. "You like _Wuthering Heights_?" he asked me with a worried tone. "_Why_?"

I was very taken aback by this, and I felt myself blush again. "Is that a _bad_ thing?"

He opened his mouth to answer me, but quickly decided otherwise. He just shook his head and looked down at the books he was picking up. I sighed and did the same thing, finally realizing how many books I had knocked over. I closed my eyes for a moment, cursing myself for being such a klutz.

I reached out for a book that was lying right in front of me. I placed my hand on top of it, and then suddenly, I felt Edward's hand over mine. I tensed up at his touch. His hand was big compared to mine, but it felt so warm. It seemed as if my hand fit perfectly into his, even if mine was much smaller than his was. My head began to swim and I could feel the butterflies in my stomach now. My heart was beating so fast, it felt as if it was about to pop out of my chest. I refused to be the first one to pull away, I couldn't get over the feeling of his touch. I liked it more than I should've.

After a few seconds, he slowly pulled his hand away. "Sorry," he mumbled, not looking up at me. He stood up, brushing off his pants and looking around the room. I looked back down at the book that I still had my hand on, and noticed that my arms were shaking. I couldn't believe what an effect he had on me, how he made me react. It was_ crazy._

I quickly picked the book off of the floor and added it to the pile of books I made next to me. I picked the pile up and pressed them against my chest, trying to stand up. But I couldn't see anything ahead of me, since the books were piled so high, and I felt my legs start to shake. I sighed and was preparing to fall back, when suddenly half of the books were taken away from the pile and I felt a strong arm snake around my waist, supporting all of my weight.

I looked up at Edward, who was holding at least five books in his left hand, while still supporting me with his right. He pulled me up so that I was standing up straight and was safely away from the floor. Even though I was alright now, he still didn't remove his hand from around my waist. Actually, he didn't move an inch away from me, there was barely any space between us now. He just continued to stand next to me, his gorgeous eyes staring back at mine. I knew he must've heard my heart misbehave, because now, it was beating harder than ever. Even I could hear it now.

As we stood there in the middle of his living room, listening to my heart, I couldn't help but feel so right there. It instantly brought me back to when I was still dating Mike, and when he used to hug me. It never felt anything like this, it always felt very awkward. I thought about when Mike used to kiss me, and how it never seemed to mean anything to him. But here, standing with Edward, I felt something that no other boy had ever made me feel before. And, to be completely honest, it scared me.

How could a boy that I had known only for a couple of hours make my heart speed up so many times, make me blush continuously, and now make me feel things I had never felt before? It was crazy. Boys at school had tried to get me to fall in love with them countless times, and they all failed miserably. So how could _Edward_ manage to do that in such little time?

"Bella? Edward?"

Alice's voice quickly brought me back to reality, and I reluctantly looked away from Edward's gaze. She was standing outside of Jasper's bedroom door, dressed in a short black dress and high black pumps. She had her hair and make-up done, and actually looked very fancy. She was staring at Edward's hand that was still around my waist, a small smirk on her face.

I took a step forward, pulling myself out of Edward's grasp. I didn't want her to get the wrong idea. "Yes, Alice?" I asked, my voice shaking a bit.

She straightened out her dress, her eyes moving back and forth between me and Edward. "Jasper and I are going to dinner. I hope you don't mind, it was pretty last minute, but at least you guys get the whole apartment to yourselves tonight," she told me, the smirk never leaving her face. It was obvious what she was assuming we would do tonight, and it showed completely in the tone she used.

"Where's Jasper, then?" I heard Edward ask from behind me.

Alice's smirk faded, and she dropped her head to look down at her shoes. "He already left," she said. "I guess you two didn't notice."

My eyes widened as I took that in. Jasper already left? He walked right past us, and we didn't even notice him? Did we even hear the door open and then close? My face started to burn up. Who knew what he saw when he passed by us! I felt my hands start to shake again, imagining the things he would tell Alice. What if he saw Edward's hand over mine ontop of the book? What if he saw Edward stepping closer to me, almost closing the small distance that there was between us before? What if...

"We'll be back pretty late, so don't stay up waiting for us," I heard Alice yell from the front door. I looked up just in time to see her small figure walk out of the apartment and then slam the front door behind her.

I sighed, looking down at the floor. What were we going to do _now_? Without Alice to save me, god knows what I would do...

I heard Edward walk closer to me, and then felt his warm hand on my back. I gulped. "We have the whole apartment to ourselves," he mumbled. "What do you want to do?"

I quickly thought about all of the possibilities in my head. I knew _exactly_ what I wanted to do, but I couldn't. _I wouldn't_. Not here, not now. And not anytime in the near future. So I picked something else that we would do, something that would be appropriate and something that would probably disappoint Alice when she heard about it.

"Want to watch a movie?"

* * *

**Thanks for the reviews! I_ planned_ on getting this chapter up earlier, but I didn't really know where to go with it. I'll try to get the next few chapters up soon.**

**And by the way- pretty much everyone I mentioned will be brought up in later chapters. So Emmett, Rosalie, Mike, Jessica, Angela, Charlie, and Jacob will come up later. Maaybe some other people, like Lauren and Renee. I'll probably have Emmett and Rosalie come up in the next few chapters, then everyone else later. Just so you guys know. :)**


	3. Movies?

I quietly snuck into Jasper's room so that I could slip into my pajamas before Edward and I watched the movie he had picked out. I didn't know what it was called or what it was about, but he told me I would like it. I didn't bother to argue with him. As I took off my clothes, I caught a glimpse at the digital clock by the bed. It was almost 6 PM now. I froze in place, trying to remember how time flew by so quickly. Alice and I arrived here at 2 PM, we had a quick lunch after we arrived which probably took half an hour, it took me about one hour to get situated and to unpack my things, and then I began to explore the apartment. But that just leaves me at 3:30 PM, what did I do for the other two and a half hours? Did Edward and I _really _spend that much time together? I shook my head in disbelief.

I slipped into my pajama shorts, a white tank top, and an over-sized blue sweatshirt, preparing myself for what lay ahead. It was just an innocent movie, right? Nothing could happen. Nothing _would_ happen, I promised myself that.

I sighed as I began to realized that it was _also_ supposed to be innocent when we first met by Alice's car, and it was supposed to be innocent when we talked by the book shelves. It all seemed like the opposite of innocent to me, but I didn't know if Edward also thought like that. I didn't know what he usually did when girls came over to his apartment, and I really didn't want to think about it.

I could feel the butterflies in my stomach when I pulled open the door and stepped into the living room. I quickly skimmed the room for Edward, then finally found him laying down on my makeshift bed, holding a bowl of popcorn in his hands. He was staring at something that was on the TV, but when I came into the room, he turned to look at me. He instantly smiled and put the popcorn down next to him on the bed, patting his lap. It took me a minute to understand that he was motioning for _me_ to come sit on him. I rolled my eyes and shook my head, but I knew he would see the blush on my cheeks. I slowly walked over to the bed and grabbed the bowl of popcorn, shoving it at him and sitting down next to him. He took it out of my hands reluctantly.

"Thank you, Bella. That does wonders for my ego," he joked, placing the popcorn on his lap.

"Well, what kind of girl do you think I am, Edward?" I asked him, pretending to be hurt. I liked to tease him like this, and made a mental note to do it more often. It was starting to become very entertaining.

"One that wouldn't mind sitting on my lap?" I heard him say. But I was too busy staring at his gorgeous face to even answer back. I still couldn't believe how beautiful he was, it was unreal. His beautiful lips, his perfect cheeks, his intoxicating eyes. I thought that if I even dared to move closer to him, if I even tried to touch him, he would disappear in a puff of smoke. I closed my eyes and shook my head, trying to gather my thoughts again.

I heard Edward sigh and get off of the bed. My eyes fluttered open in surprise. He walked around the bed and came over to my side, not looking at me once. For a second, I thought he was about to leave, and guilt quickly washed over me. I didn't mean to upset him, I didn't mean to reject him. I was about to reach out to grab his hand so that I could explain myself, but quickly stopped when I began to realize what he was actually doing. He reached forward and pressed the light switches, and suddenly it was dark in the room.

_Now _I just felt stupid.

I quickly dropped my hand before he could notice, but continued to stare at him in shock. Why did I always over-analyze things? We were watching a movie, of _course_ we wouldn't watch it with all of the lights on. He turned to walk back to his side of the bed, but stopped when he saw me staring at him. He smiled crookedly, which made my heart instantly speed up.

"Where did you_ think_ I was going?" he questioned me.

I bit my lip and looked down at the floor, feeling myself blush. "I don't know, I just..."

I suddenly felt his warm hand on the side of my face, brushing my hair behind my ear. I gulped, not daring to look up at him. _Now_ I was blushing even more, and I knew he could feel it. "You're crazy, Bella," he said, chuckling a little. I still kept my head down, trying to calm down my nerves.

But then I felt his hand caress my cheek, leading down to my chin, and I knew I was a second away from hyperventilating. His thumb lightly brushed over my bottom lip, sending chills throughout my body, and then slowly moved back up. He was gently rubbing circles into my cheek now, acting as if I was very fragile. I shut my eyes and prayed that he would pull away, and was preparing myself to tell him to, but I couldn't seem to find my voice.

Thankfully, he took a step away from me, and I then heard him start to walk over to the other side of the bed again. I shut my eyes and took in deep breaths, but my heart was still beating like crazy. I hated the effect he had on me, and I hated that he knew about it. It was _unfair_, he had an advantage.

I felt him sit down next to me, and I reluctantly turned back to my original spot. My breathing still wasn't normal and my heart still felt like it was about to burst out of my chest, and I didn't feel that it was safe to be sitting that close to him. But I couldn't just kick him out or tell him to go away, this was_ his_ apartment.

He started the movie then, but I was too busy trying to slow down my breathing to watch the beginning. When I finally looked up, I couldn't tell what it was about at all. I didn't recognize any of the actors and what they were saying made no sense to me. After about five minutes, I gave up on trying to understand it. Instead, I looked over at Edward, who seemed to be distracted as well.

I reached over and lightly pushed his arm, which snapped him out of his day dream. He looked up at me, and I couldn't help but smile at his confused expression. "Aren't you watching the movie?" I asked him.

"Aren't _you_?" he snapped back, a smile spreading across his face as well.

"I missed the beginning, and now I don't really know what it's about," I said, shrugging.

He nodded at my response, then reached over for the remote. He put the movie on pause and turned back to face me. "So if you don't want to watch the movie..." he asked, leaving the decision open for me. I guess he assumed that, since it was his decision to watch the movie, I might as well get a choice on what we got to do next.

I thought about this for a minute, tapping my chin with my index finger. What_ did_ I want to do? I really did want to watch the movie with Edward, but it seemed like he didn't really want to watch it anymore, or else he would've just started it over for me. I decided that I had to think of something else to do. I sighed and said the first thing that came to my head. "I want to learn more about you," I told him.

He smiled again, his beautiful eyes curious now. "Alright, ask me anything."

Unthinkingly, I leaned closer to him, and, once again, said the first thing that popped into my head. "Why don't you like _Wuthering Heights_?"

He obviously wasn't expecting this question, and actually seemed upset that I asked him. Did he _really_ think I was just going to let it drop? He groaned and dramatically threw his head back. "Bella, please-"

"You _said_ I could ask you anything!" I reminded him. He looked back at me now, looking as if he was about to argue, but decided otherwise.

He leaned back against the bed and sighed, trying to think of a good enough answer. After a few seconds, he finally answered. "I just think it's... stupid, I guess. I never thought it was that great when I was reading it, and I really don't see why you like it so much."

I was quiet for a few seconds, trying to figure out if that was all he was going to say. When he didn't speak again, I decided to ask a follow up question. "Alright," I began. "I understand if you don't like it, but why did you react the way you did when I told you I _did_ like it?"

He shrugged and smiled crookedly again. "I don't know, it just took me by surprise. You just don't seem like someone who would like that kind of book," he explained.

"You can tell what kind of books I like by just _looking_ at me?"

"I'm good at reading people," he told me. "But I guess I was wrong about you..."

I shook my head and tried to look at this through his perspective so I could understand him better, but I couldn't. Could anyone _really_ see what kind of things people liked to do, what kind of _books_ they liked to read, just by looking at them? "I really don't understand what you mean," I told him.

He sighed. "Well, I really don't know how to explain it."

I rolled my eyes and looked up at the ceiling, trying to find some patience in my system. I decided that this wouldn't be the end of this conversation, and that I would surely bring it up later, but now, I might as well ask him some other questions. "Alright, then let's just pretend that I understand what you mean and that everything you just said made _complete_ sense," I joked. "Let's just move on then, shall we?" He laughed and then nodded.

I sighed and pulled my legs to my chest, wrapping my arms around them and resting my chin on my knees. "I'll make this a simple one," I informed him. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

He raised his eyebrows at me, a small smirk appearing on his face. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just_ wondering_," I lied.

He narrowed his eyes, and I guessed he was wondering if my answer was good enough for him. Something about my expression seemed to confirm it, though. "I _used_ to," he told me, looking straight into my eyes. "But it didn't work out."

"Care to explain?"

The seriousness in his expression instantly left at that moment, and a small smile appeared on his face. He seemed to begin to understand how curious I _really_ was, and it was funny to him. "Her name was Lauren. She was... nice, but it wasn't serious, and I felt as if it wasn't going anywhere. So we both decided to end it."

I opened my mouth to ask a follow up question, but he beat me to it. "Do_ you_ have a boyfriend?" he asked.

"No," I answered simply. Why go into all of the details? I'm sure he didn't want to hear about my messy break-up with Mike.

Apparently, I was wrong. "Did you have one before you came here?"

The butterflies came back into my stomach as I argued whether or not to tell him. It still bothered me, but I was sure I would be able to tell him. But I also wondered if it would bother _him._ It wasn't a happy story, and it always made things uncomfortable, but he _did_ ask...

I hid my face behind my knees, knowing that if I said anything it would be muffled, which was exactly what I was aiming for. I really didn't want to explain it to him, but I had a feeling that it wouldn't be as bad as I imagined it would. "Yeah, his name was Mike. We were pretty close, but he broke up with me before prom. I didn't know why at first, until he showed up to prom with one of my best friends. Then it just sort of _hit me_," I told him. I could barely understand myself as I spoke, since I was talking behind my knees, but he seemed to catch every single word I said.

"Bella, I'm-"

"Can we talk about something else?" I interrupted him. Suddenly, dozens of new emotions came at me. Being here with Edward made me feel happy again, it made me forget about all of the feelings I ever had for Mike, but now all of the sadness I felt when he broke up with me began to come back as I replayed the events in my head. And I also _really_ didn't need someone else to tell me how sorry they were for me, I had heard it dozens of times before. I _especially_ didn't want to hear it from Edward. "Can you tell me about the music festival we're supposed to be going to?"

I heard him shift around on the bed, but I didn't look up. I still kept my face guarded behind my knees. "I almost forgot about that," he mumbled. "There's just going to be a bunch of small bands there, I don't think you've heard of any of them. It's supposed to be a lot of fun, or at least that's what I've heard." I could almost see him smiling as he said this, and just picturing that beautiful smile of his made me smile as well.

"Will it be crowded?" I asked.

"Probably not. Like I said, they're all just small bands. Why, do you _like_ going to crowded events?" Now I could _hear_ the smile in his voice, and knew that my questions were becoming very entertaining to him. Did he _enjoy_ seeing me like this? Just thinking that he did made my smile instantly disappear.

I sighed and shook my head from behind my knees, which messed up my hair a bit. "No, but I _do_ like events with food. Will there be food?" I asked, not being able to think of anything else to say.

He chuckled. "Maybe, maybe not."

"Sounds like a blast," I whispered, not meaning for him to hear me.

But I knew he did, because not even a second after I said it, I felt his warm hands over him, pulling them away from my knees. I instantly looked up at him. His expression was pained, as if he'd just been hit. I bit my lip. "Bella, why are you upset?" he asked me. "Did I say something? What's wrong?"

I sighed and put my knees down on the bed. I slowly crossed them, since there was no room to lay them in front of me, and then looked at my hands in Edward's. I wasn't planning on answering him, but when I looked into his eyes, I couldn't help but blurt out the truth. "I just don't like bringing up what happened with Mike, it makes me upset. I try not to think about it that often," I explained to him. I found it amazing that I was able to form a coherent sentence while he was holding my hands. My heart was obviously beating like crazy again, but I was too into the conversation to even notice it.

A small smile appeared on his face as he looked at me. His eyes looked apologetic now, and I knew he was upset that he had brought it up before. "Why did you answer me, then? You know you didn't have to." He began to rub circles into my hand, either trying to make me feel better or to make my heart beat even faster, I wasn't sure which one. Whatever his plan was, it worked. My heart instantly began to pick up speed, if that was even possible, and I felt all of my sadness wash away from my system.

"I don't know why I answered," I mumbled. "I just sort of did it without thinking."

He laughed at this, and instantly gripped my hands even tighter. "You know, Bella, not _all _guys do things like that. We're not all like him."

Once again, I spoke without thinking, because I didn't have to think about it this time. I knew what he was saying was true, and I _clearly_ saw the hidden message behind it. He was saying that _he_ wasn't like that, and that he would never hurt me like Mike did. He didn't have to say the words out loud for me to understand them. So I just smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah, I think I'm finally starting to realize that."

* * *

**Just a note... I have never read _Wuthering Heights_, I just based my explanation on what Edward said about it in Eclipse. Haha, if I do read it any time soon, I'll bring the whole argument back later. **

**Sorry if this chapter is kind of short, but I just didn't want to give too much away so soon. I cut _a lot_ out and I had to rewrite this chapter dozens of times, but I still hope you like it. :)**


	4. The Picture

**APOV**

As Jasper drove us back to his apartment, I looked out the window at all of the passing stores. I'll admit, it took all of my strength to keep me from jumping out of the car and running out to some of them. Everything was just so _cute,_ it was unbearable to drive by them and not be able to stop to buy something.

At one point, we passed a store that was filled with fancy evening dresses. There was one on display that absolutely _screamed_Bella. I pressed my nose into the window to get a better look at it. It was a simple strapless midnight blue dress that looked like it would go up to her knees. It wasn't all puffy and had no sequins, nothing too out there. Why _wouldn't_ she love it?

"Jasper," I whispered. "Do you think Bella would like that dress over there? It's the blue one." I pointed to the store with my index finger, waiting for his answer.

The street light had turned red, and he slowly stopped the car. He then leaned back in his seat to look at the dress I was pointing out. I could almost hear him rolling his eyes. "Alice, you know I love you, but it's almost midnight, and I'm not stopping to get that dress. That store can't be open_ now_-"

"I know, I know," I interrupted him. Now _I _was rolling my eyes. "I'm not saying I want to go to it _now_, I just want to know for future reference."

He took in a deep breath. "I don't know, it doesn't look like something Bella would wear, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you got it for her. It looks... nice," he explained. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the light go green, and Jasper immediately hit the gas pedal. I sighed and began to repeat the name of the store in my head, committing it to memory. I knew I would be coming back to get it for her. Maybe she could wear it out one night, and maybe if Edward mustered up the courage to ask her out on a date...

I shut my eyes. _Edward._I began to wonder how long it would take for him to make a move on her, or if he needed someone to spell it out for him. When I saw them in the living room before I left, I was positive there was some chemistry between them. Only a complete idiot wouldn't be able to see it. It was clear what an effect he had on her, and I knew that if he didn't feel the same way, he would've told her by now. Edward was always very honest and straight forward, but Bella seemed to be bringing out a new side in him.

"So, what are we going to tell Bella and Edward when we get back? I'm sure they're wondering why we were out for so long," I heard Jasper say. I turned to look at him to see if he was being serious, and saw that he had a small smirk on his face.

I sighed and leaned back in my seat, bringing my hand up to play with my hair. "Why don't we just tell them the truth?" I offered.

"Do you think they'll really want to know the truth?"

"What, that your friends are total assholes and wouldn't let us leave until they tried _everything _on the menu?" I yelled, unable to control my anger anymore. I quickly shut my eyes and rested my head against my seat. Jasper's friends always gave me such a headache when they were around. Why did he keep taking me out to meet them?

I heard Jasper chuckle from beside me, but refused to look up at him. "That _was_ pretty funny," he mumbled.

I was about a second away from slapping him when he suddenly stopped the car. He pulled the key out of the ignition and then quietly opened the car door, taking a step out. I looked out the window. We were already back at his apartment building by now, and a second after he stepped out of the car, he was already opening my door for me. He held out his hand for me, but I stubbornly refused to take it. I jumped out of the car and landed down _hard_ on my heels. I wobbled around for a second, but soon I was able to stand up straight without any help. I knew I would feel the pain in my feet from that jump tomorrow morning, but I was too busy being angry at Jasper to worry about it.

While we were walking towards the building and during the entire elevator ride, Jasper apologized continuously. He would grab my hands and play with my hair, sometimes he would gently grab my chin and try to make me face him, but I refused to budge. But I have to admit, it was hard to stay angry when he started to kiss me.

By the time we got to his apartment, he was begging me to at least look at him. I knew it was all just a joke, and, even though I was angry at him, I couldn't help but laugh at his attempts to get me to forgive him. But once we got inside his apartment, he immediately stopped talking. This caught me off guard, since he could barely keep his mouth shut in the elevator.

When I looked up at him, I saw that he was staring at something in the living room. I quickly followed his gaze, and then froze.

Bella and Edward were both laying on Bella's "bed". The TV was still on and the volume was turned up all the way, but that was not what caught my attention. They were both asleep, and probably had been for a long time. Bella's head was resting on Edward's shoulder, and he had his head leaned onto hers. Her face was turned so that she was nuzzling his neck. He had his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, and she had both of her arms wrapped around his chest. Even from here, I could see that Bella had a smile on her face. They looked like two little kids who accidentally fell asleep while their parents were out. It was the definition of adorable.

I bit my lip to keep myself from screaming. _Finally,_ it took them long enough! I began to bounce in place, not being able to control my excitement. I couldn't help but wonder what they had been doing while we were gone. I would've woken her up to ask her, but I couldn't break them apart. They were just too cute.

I suddenly felt Jasper's hand wind around my waist, and I quickly turned to face him. "Get the camera," I told him. He didn't even argue, he just ran to his bedroom to get it. I could tell he was just as happy to see them together as I was.

As I stared at them together, I could _see_that they were perfect for each other. He was always so cocky and full of himself, and not to mention a complete smart-ass. She was shy and so loving, and also a complete book worm. I had a feeling that, with Bella in his life, Edward would be a new man.

As Jasper came back to take a picture of them, I couldn't help but smile to myself. Bella would _definitely_ be thanking me for this.

**BPOV**

I knew that I was having a dream when I woke up, and two things gave that away.

The first thing was that I wasn't on my bed in the living room, I was in an actual room now. It had white walls and picture frames everywhere. I was on a big, comfortable bed with soft pillows and silky sheets. There was a desk on the opposite wall from the bed that had a huge computer on it and a nice lamp beside it. Next to the desk was a small keyboard and a guitar. This was just all I could see when I opened my eyes from the bed, I was sure there were other things scattered around this make-believe room. Yes, this was _definitely_ not where I fell asleep last night.

The second thing that made me sure that this was a dream was the fact that Edward was lying next to me. He had already woken up and was sitting up in the bed, looking at something in his hands. I knew that I fell asleep on the couch with Edward, but I was sure that he would've gotten up and gone to his room after I fell asleep. There was no way we could actually be in this room together... right?

I shut my eyes and took in a deep breath, preparing to wake up at any second. I stayed like that for a few moments, but then it became uncomfortable not being able to breathe. I let out the breath I was holding and opened my eyes. I was_ still_ in the room.

I sighed and pushed myself up. I quickly skimmed the room again, wondering _why _I would dream I was in here. I sighed and turned to look at where "Edward" was sitting, and nearly jumped back. He was looking straight at me, and didn't look surprised or confused like I did. He was actually smiling at me now, and seemed generally happy.

"Is this a dream?" I asked him. "This isn't real. I'm still sleeping on the couch, right?"

Edward's lips were in a hard line, and I could tell he was trying to keep himself from laughing. "Bella, this isn't a dream," he said slowly. "Apparently, we both fell asleep on the couch last night, and Jasper was kind enough to wake us up at 1 AM. I know you said you wanted to sleep on the couch, but I just couldn't let you. And since you didn't want _me_ to sleep on the couch, I came up with a compromise." By the time he finished saying this, he had a full smile on his face. I guess he couldn't hold it back anymore.

I processed this through my head for a second, and then it slowly began to make sense. But there was one thing I was still unsure of. "Wait, what compromise?" I asked. "That instead of having one of us sleep on the couch and the other on the bed, we _both_ sleep in the bed?" He was smiling so wide now, all of his perfectly white teeth were showing. He slowly nodded. "That's a _great_ idea," I mumbled.

I looked down at what he was holding in his hand. It was a small digital camera, and it looked like there was a picture of two people on the screen. I leaned in closer to him to see it better, and soon the figures become clear. It was two people, and they were both laying on a bed. I could now see that it was a boy and a girl, and as I got closer, I realized that it was-

"WHAT IS THIS?!" I screamed once I finally recognized the two figures. I grabbed the camera out of his hands and brought it closer to my face. Yes, I knew my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. It was a picture of Edward and I laying on my bed in the living room. He had his arm around my waist and I had both of my arms wrapped around his chest. My head was on his shoulder and his face was in my hair. I couldn't see his expression, but I could clearly see mine. I was_ smiling._

I dropped the camera on the bed and covered my mouth with my hands._ This _was embarrassing. I could already feel my face start to heat up, and my eyes began to sting with tears. I looked up at Edward, and saw that he was also covering his face. I quickly dropped my hands and reached out to comfort him, but stopped halfway. He was covering his face because he was _laughing_ so hard. I dropped my hand and continued to stare at him in disbelief. Soon, his image become blurred, and I started to tell myself that is _had_ to be a dream again, that I would be waking up soon. But then I realized that he was blurred because of the tears that were pooling in my eyes.

I quickly covered my eyes with my hands, not wanting him to see me cry. That would just add on to the embarrassment. But I couldn't stop myself from crying. I was embarrassed because now it was obvious to Edward how I felt about him, and now it was documented in that picture. But I was also angry for whoever took the picture. Did they _want_ me to react this way? Did they _want _me to be upset? This had to be some sort of revenge.

Suddenly, I couldn't feel the bed beneath me. I tried to drop my hands, but I couldn't. Someone was gripping my arms, trying to lift me up, so my hands were locked. Then I was no longer in the air, I could feel something beneath me. My arms weren't being held anymore, so I quickly dropped my hands to see where I was. My eyes fluttered open, and I found myself staring into Edward's gorgeous eyes. I blinked. I could feel some tears rolling down my face, and I knew that, now that he was sitting right infront of me, they wouldn't go by without his notice. It was then that I realized that Edward had picked me up and put me on his lap. He had his arms wrapped around me, and I knew I wouldn't be able to break away from his iron grip.

"Bella," he whispered. "What's wrong?"

"That picture is very embarrassing," I told him. I grabbed his arms and tried to pull them apart, but he refused to move. I glared at him, but he only responded with a breath-taking smile.

"I think it's very cute, actually." He released one of his hands and brought it up to brush away some of my tears. He was just touching my face lightly, but it still made my heart go crazy. He was always so gentle with me, always so careful, it was hard to believe that he was so strong. But it was very obvious that he was once you looked at his muscles.

I tried to ignore the fact that I was sitting on his lap, and that his hand was on my waist, and that he was touching my face again. I took in deep breaths and tried to not look at his face, knowing that it would distract me even more. "I don't even remember falling asleep like that," I told him, my voice shaking a bit.

He cupped my face with his hand and turned it towards him, forcing me to look at him. This couldn't be a dream, I would never be able to dream up his features so perfectly. "I do," he said. "You fell asleep first. You're very cute when you sleep, you talk sometimes. Did you know that?"

My eyes widened, and I felt a fresh batch of tears start to roll down my face. Once he saw my reaction, he instantly pulled me even closer to him, tucking my head under his chin and wrapping his other arm around my waist again. I closed my eyes and pressed my face into his chest. I instantly forgot that he just said he heard me talk in my sleep and that I was supposed to be embarrassed by this situation, I was too busy relishing this moment. He smelled so sweet, I just couldn't pull away. I knew that my tears were staining his shirt, but I'm sure he had something else he could change into, right?

I heard him say 'I'm sorry' at some point, but I wasn't paying attention. I was too busy committing this moment to my memory, knowing that in a second, it could be over. I didn't want it to end, I didn't want him to pull away. I wanted to sit there with him for the rest of my time here. I didn't care if Alice got annoyed or if Jasper got angry that I was keeping Edward all to myself, it didn't matter anymore.

I felt his hand start to rub circles into my back, and I felt his lips on my hair. I sighed. All of my old worries about college, Alice, my friends and parents, and Mike all washed away when I was sitting here with Edward. I knew that, once I got back home, all of my worries would come back, but now, I was completely content. I started to wonder if I even had to leave, if I could just stay here for the rest of my senior year. There wasn't much left, and I could just drive back to take my remaining tests. Would anyone really care?

I suddenly felt Edward tense from beneath me, and I immediately brought my head up to look at him. He was staring at something in the doorway, his expression was unreadable. I followed his gaze.

Alice was leaning on the door, a worried look on her face. I noticed she was still in her pajamas. She was holding up my cell phone, and from here, I could see that it was connected. Someone had called me, and _she_ picked it up? I narrowed my eyes, trying to see who she was talking to, but I couldn't see the name.

She took a step forward and held the phone out for me. "It's for you," she said. "It's your brother."


	5. Emmett

**Sorryyy for the cliff hanger, but the chapter was getting too long. Haha, I promise I won't do it again. :)**

**And also, I meant to post this chapter earlier, but my internet was acting up. So sorry about that too.**

I nearly jumped off of Edward when I heard Alice say my brother was calling. I ran up to her and snatched the phone from her tiny hand, pressing it against my ear. A small part of me really wanted to hang up on him, but I knew he would call back if I did. And what if he wasn't angry at me? What if he was just calling to check up on me? I had to stay positive.

"Hello?" I whispered into the receiver.

"BELLA!" Emmett screamed back. "You have a lot of explaining to do!"

I shot a glare at Alice, who in return gave me her puppy dog pout. I knew she had told something to Emmett, and she knew I wouldn't like it. I sighed. "I know, I know. What did Alice tell you?" I asked him.

"I'm asking the questions here, Bella. First off, why the hell did Alice have to answer your phone?"

"Well-"

"And," he interrupted me. "Why, when I asked her where you were, did she say that you were _sleeping in Edward's room_? Please tell me Edward is a girl, Bella, or else..." He didn't finish what he was saying, and I knew he was probably furious right now. I sighed and walked out of Edward's bedroom, making my way over to my bed. I sat down on the edge and looked down at my nails.

"Here's what happened," I began. "Alice and I are staying in Jasper's apartment, and he also has a room mate here, Edward. There are only two bedrooms, so I decided to sleep on the couch. Last night, I fell asleep and he felt bad that I had to sleep there, so he moved me to his room." I purposely didn't tell him that we fell asleep on the couch _together,_ and that we also slept together in his bedroom. Just thinking about it made my heart pick up speed.

I heard him sigh on the other line, and I could almost imagine him pacing back and forth. "How long are you staying there?" he asked me.

I smiled. "Ten more days."

"WHAT THE HELL?" I jumped back when I heard Emmett scream, it caught me off guard. Now I _knew_ he was absolutely furious at me. "I thought you were just staying for the weekend! Damnit, Bella, you're staying at some random guy's apartment for _ten more days_?"

"He's not some random guy!" I fought back.

"Have you ever met him before?" he questioned me. I sighed and shut my eyes. I guess he was right, I hadn't known Edward before this, but I knew him so well now. It was as if we'd already known each other for years.

"No, but-"

"Then he's a random guy! God, Bella... does dad know about this?"

I froze. "Emmett, please don't tell dad," I begged. "Please, you know he'll come down here and drive me back! Emmett, please!" I didn't need a surprise appearance from my dad, I had already been embarrassed enough.

"Dad's not coming down there," he said. I immediately relaxed when he said this, but I knew there was a catch. There was _always_ a catch. "I won't tell him you're there, but I'm coming down there."

I was preparing myself to yell at him, but then I saw Edward walk out of his bedroom. And for a second, I forgot that I was talking to Emmett. Now Edward was completely _shirtless_, and came out in only a pair of baggy sweats. I couldn't help but wonder why he didn't just walk around shirtless all of the time, he had an _incredible_ body, and he had no right to hide it from others. Mainly, _me. _My eyes widened at the image in front of me, and I had to use all of my strength to not hang up on my brother and just jump Edward right there and then. He smiled at me, then slowly walked over to my bed, sitting down next to me. He didn't seem to mind that I was yelling at my brother, he seemed completely at ease.

As I thought about Emmett's offer, I wondered if it would really be that bad if he came here. He would be able to meet Edward, and I _knew_ he would approve of him. Maybe he would become friends with Jasper and Edward, and maybe my dad would never have to know about this little trip. And maybe, just maybe, Jasper would introduce Emmett to his twin sister, Rosalie, so Emmett would have something else to think about while he was here.

"Fine," I answered Emmett, suddenly feeling very confident. "You can come here. But there's no room left in Jasper's apartment, so you'll have to find somewhere else to stay."

"Don't worry about it, Bells. I know some people there," he said. I could hear the smile in his voice. "But I will be there to watch you, don't forget that. And I really can't_ wait_ to meet this Edward."

I rolled my eyes and looked at Edward, who was still sitting next to me. He was smiling even more now, and I knew that he understood what our conversation was about. I smiled back at him. "I'll see you soon, Emmett," I said into the phone.

"You're damn right you will..." I heard him mumble before he hung up.

I ended the call and dropped my phone onto the bed. Edward and I were still staring at each other, and to be honest, I would've liked to stay like that for the rest of the day. But he had other plans.

Before I knew it, my back was on the bed, and Edward was laying on top of me. He had my hands pinned above my head and pressed his body against mine. I had no room to move, so I couldn't wiggle out from under him. I was literally trapped, but I didn't mind. I felt his cold breath on my neck, leading up to my ear, and I had to bite my lip to keep myself from moaning.

"Now, where were we before your brother so_ rudely _interrupted us?" he whispered into my ear. I opened my mouth to answer back, but I couldn't find my voice. He lightly kissed right below my ear, and it send shivers throughout my body. His lips were so warm and so soft, I didn't want him to pull away. He kissed the spot again, before he slowly started to kiss a trail to my cheek, and then down to my chin. My breathing had already picked up and my heart was going crazy, as usual. I knew that if I didn't stop him now, it would continue and only get worse. And I also knew that Emmett was a very fast driver, and could probably get here in about an hour. I didn't want him to walk in and see Edward lying on top of me.

"Edward," I whispered, glad I had found my voice. "My brother is a very fast driver, and if he walked in on us like this... well, I don't think things would go down well."

"I really don't care, Bella," I heard him mumble against my jaw. "We were having a very nice conversation in my room until he called, and I don't really want it to end there." I had never expected our conversation to end up like this when we were in his room, but what was I expecting? We were practically all over each other this morning and last night, and I guess he couldn't hold in his feelings anymore.

I made an attempt to push him off of me, but it was more difficult than I expected. "Edward, please, we can continue our conversation later," I offered him. "And believe me, I'd like to continue it just as much as you do, but I need to prepare everyone for Emmett's visit."

And then, there was no more pressure on me. I let out a sigh before I finally sat up. Edward was now standing in front of me, a small smirk on his face. I knew that he would take me up on my offer to continue our conversation later, and I wished I could tell him how much I wanted to continue it _right now_, but I had a lot of things to plan for my brother's visit.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands, finally realizing what I had set myself up for. My brother never made things easier for me, and he certainly wouldn't make this visit of his much fun.


	6. First Impressions

Everything was completely planned out before Emmett even arrived at Jasper's apartment. Apparently, Emmett had a friend who went to Jasper's college, so he would be staying with him during his visit here, although I knew he would be spending as much time at Jasper's apartment as possible. Edward agreed that when Emmett was around, he was to keep his hands to himself (though he didn't seem too happy about it). Jasper had already called Rosalie, and she agreed to come over later that night to meet Emmett. Everything was planned out, and now all we had to do was wait.

I changed out of my pajamas and into some reasonable clothes while I waited for Emmett to come. I probably tried on all of the things I packed and half of the things Alice had before I found something reasonable to wear. I ended up in a pair of dark-wash jeans and in one of the blouses Alice brought with her **(AN: pictures are on my profile, since I couldn't really explain how the top looked).** And after a long look in the mirror, I decided that my hair was hopeless, and just left it down.

After I had changed, I walked into the living room where everyone else was sitting. Edward was sitting on my bed, while Alice was leaning on the wall next to the TV. Jasper had decided to lay down across the floor in front of my bed, not seeming to care that there was a nice, comfortable bed right infront of him. I sighed and slowly walked over to the bed, quickly stepping over him. I sat down next to Edward who wrapped his arm around my waist once I sat down. I still didn't understand how our relationship seemed to change over night, but I wasn't about to ask him _why_ he was being closer to me now. I just leaned my head on his shoulder and shut my eyes, preparing for the worst.

A few minutes later, I heard a loud 'thud' come from behind the front door. I instantly jumped up at the noise, knowing exactly who was making it. I stepped over Jasper again and made my way towards the door. While I walked, I heard the doorbell ring several times, and could tell he was getting impatient.

Before I even opened the door all the way, Emmett was already inside, pulling me into a hug. I giggled and hugged him back, not able to fully wrap my arms around him. He was so big and so strong, he was nearly double the size of me. But, although he was big, he was a complete sweetheart inside. Alice already knew that, but Jasper and Edward didn't, and I knew that they would instantly get the wrong impression of him.

"Emmett, I haven't seen you in, what, three days? It hasn't been that long!" I yelled. He ignored my comment and continued to hug me. I sighed and wiggled my way out of his grasp. I then grabbed his arm and pulled him into the living room to introduce him, and he quietly followed me.

I had to stop only a few feet away from the door, though, because once Alice caught sight of the new arrival, she quickly ran over to us and threw herself at him. He laughed and pulled her into a hug, literally lifting her off of her feet. Alice was even smaller than me, which made Emmett seem like a giant next to her. But he handled her with such care, I knew he would never be able to hurt her.

Once he put her down, I jumped at the chance to introduce him to Jasper and Edward. I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. I looked over at where they were sitting, and saw that they had both stood up by now. Jasper looked absolutely terrified of Emmett, and I'm sure he thought that he could easily crush Alice if he wanted to.

"Jasper, Edward," I said. "This is my brother, Emmett. Emmett, this is Jasper, Alice's boyfriend," I told him, gesturing towards Jasper. Emmett smiled at him, which made Jasper look even more terrified. I then turned to glance at Edward, who was smiling at Emmett. "And this is Edward."

I had expected Emmett to do something stupid, like walk right up to him and start to cross-examine him, but he didn't. He stayed in his place and just nodded at Edward, who in return smiled even more. I was shocked at how civilized Emmett was being and how calm Edward was. It wasn't what I was expecting at all.

"Uh, Emmett, do you want something to eat?" Alice quickly offered when it was silent.

Emmett skimmed the room, taking in the small space that was now filled with people. Even though there were only five of us, it still looked a little claustrophobic. He turned to Alice with a small smile on his face. "Nah, I'm okay. I should probably go move my stuff into my friend's apartment, though," he then turned to me, and his smile was suddenly gone. "But I _will _be back later, you got that?"

"I know, Emmett. Jasper actually invited his sister to come over later, so maybe you'll get to meet her," I told him casually. "Her name is Rosalie."

"Bella, if you're trying to distract me-"

"I'm just trying to make this trip better for you, Emmett," I told him. I made an attempt to copy Alice's puppy dog pout, knowing it couldn't have the same effect as hers. But Emmett was always a sucker for that pout, no matter who it came from. He sighed and rolled his eyes, slowly nodding his head. He walked over to me and held out his arms, and I quickly wrapped my arms around him. Even when he was being an asshole and trying to ruin my life, he was still my big brother, and I couldn't help but love him.

Once I let him go, he turned to look at Edward again. "I'll see you guys later, okay?" I knew it was directed to everyone in the room, but by the way he was staring at Edward, I knew that most of it was meant for him. I sighed. I _knew_ he was saving that cross-examination for later.

He then walked over to Alice, giving her a quick hug, and then nearly sprinted out of the apartment. "Bye!" he yelled out before slamming the door shut behind him.

Everyone in the room stood in silence, probably taking in what had just happened. Alice and I had smiles on our faces, but the boys looked shocked. I knew Jasper was probably thinking that Emmett had broken some of Alice's bones after he hugged her, and Edward... well, Edward just looked scared for his own life.

Alice seemed to notice this, too. She quickly skipped over to Jasper's side, wrapping her small arms around his wasit. "I'm still alive, arne't I?" she told him. "Emmett would never hurt me, you guys just need to get to know him."

Jasper sighed and pulled her closer to him, relieved that she wasn't hurt. "I know, I know. He just looked so... big, and you're just so small," he told her.

I rolled my eyes and then looked over to Edward, who still hadn't moved from his original spot. He had his hands in his pockets and was looking down at the floor. I slowly walked over to him, not wanting to frighten him even more. I put my hand on his arm, which instantly made him look over to me. His beautiful eyes looked worried now, and his gorgeous lips were turned down into a frown.

"Edward, he's not that bad, I promise you that," I told him. "He's not going to kill you. And to tell you the truth, I think he might like you."

"He doesn't even _know_ me," he shot back. "How can you possibly tell he likes me?"

I sighed and ran my hand down his arm, trying to calm him down. "Because when he first met Mike, he started throwing all of these personal questions at him, and I could just tell that he didn't like him the moment he met him. But with you, he seemed totally stunned, as if he wasn't expecting to come here and find_ you_. Just trust me, he likes you."

He took a moment to register everything that I said, and then slowly, that beautiful, crooked smile appeared on his face. He grabbed my hand and held it tightly in his. "Well, I guess I'll have to get to know him one way or another," he whispered.

"Yeah, but I'm sure once he meets Rosalie, he'll be pretty preoccupied," I told him.

"Speak of the devil!" I heard a new voice come from the front door. I froze, and I felt Edward squeeze my hand a little. I could recognize that gorgeous voice _anywhere._

I turned just in time to see Jasper break away from Alice and run to the front door. He pulled his sister into a hug, and I heard them whispering to each other quietly. I didn't get to see her face, I only saw her blonde curls get mixed up with Jasper's hair as they hugged.

Finally, he let her go, quickly stepping aside to let her see everyone who was there. She smiled at Alice and Edward when she made eye contact with them, and then her gaze slowly shifted to me. Her smile stayed in place, but I saw her tense up a bit. I gulped.

"Bella," Rosalie whispered. "It's been so long since I've last seen you."

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**Sorry for all of the surprise guest appearances and stuff, but they had to come into the story _some time. _And sorry this chapter is so short. I'm already writing the next one, and I'll try to make it a little longer and better.  
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	7. Sleep Talking

**Hey, sorry if there was some misunderstanding in the last chapter. I think I said before that Bella thought that Rosalie never really liked her and that it was always awkward between them. If I didn't, well, now you know. :) Sorry I didn't really explain it that much.**

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Rosalie dropped her purse beside the door, slowly making her way towards everyone. As I looked at her, I began to remember when I used to think she was the most beautiful person in the world. I still thought she was very beautiful, but after I met Edward… well, let's just say my opinion was changed.

She stopped right in front of me, looking down at my right hand. I instantly remembered that Edward was still holding onto my hand, and knew that this had caught her attention. I felt my cheeks burn up.

"So I guess Jasper was right, you two really _did _hit it off," she said to us with a smile. I heard Edward chuckle from beside me, and it how he could find this situation funny. I quickly pulled my hand away from his and looked down at the floor.

"Yes, I guess you can say that," Edward said from beside me. I would've felt flattered by his comment if I wasn't still embarrassed by Rosalie's. Was it _really _that obvious how much I liked him?

"Rosalie!" I heard Alice yell. I glanced up and saw the two of them hugging in front of me. Alice had to stand up on her toes to reach her, but she still made the extra effort. Once they pulled away, Alice began to jump in place. "I can't wait for you to meet Bella's brother, I _really_ think you're gonna like him."

When she said this, I finally looked up to see her expression. Was she _serious_? Rosalie and Emmett were complete opposites. Emmett liked sports and eating food, while Rosalie only cared about her looks. I knew it was stupid to think they would actually get along, but if they were forced together, they would have to at least talk to each other. I also hoped that they would like each other, but I wasn't expecting anything.

"What's he like?" Rosalie asked, turning towards me again.

"Emmett is..." I sighed as I tried to think of the perfect words to describe him, but there was just so much I could say. "He's fun to be around. He's a complete sweet heart, so don't let his looks fool you. And he's also very talkative..."

I heard Alice let out a small giggle. "He sounds perfect for you, right, Rose?" she said.

"I won't know until we meet," she replied, a smirk on her face. I had a feeling that I should've been repulsed about the way she was talking about my brother, but I didn't care, I was just glad the subject wasn't about me anymore.

Alice and Rosalie continued to talk about god knows what for the next few minutes, while I continued to stand awkwardly next to Edward. I wanted so badly to grab his hand again, but I knew if I did, it would earn a comment from Rosalie. So we just stood there, watching the two girls talk animatedly in front of us. This went on until Alice told Rosalie that she wanted to show her something she had brought from home, and then they both ran off to Jasper's room, leaving me alone with the two boys. Normally, I would've felt left out, but as long as I was with Edward, I was fine.

I sat down on my bed again, trying to get myself to relax. Emmett's visit and now Rosalie's visit were doing absolutely nothing for my nerves. Edward stretched out his arms in front of me, yawning as he did so. "I'm going to go to my room," he announced. He threw a glance in my direction, and then quickly turned to walk to his room. I continued to sit there on the bed, knowing that the small glance he had given me was an invitation to join him. I would've ran right after him if I could, but then I remembered that Jasper was still in the room.

Once he was gone, I quickly looked over at Jasper. He had his eyebrows raised at me, and I knew that he saw the look Edward had given me. Nothing_ ever_ got past Jasper. "Bella," he said. "Why don't you go spend some time with Edward? I think I'm going to make some food for everyone."

I immediately jumped up when I heard his offer, a huge smile spreading across my face. I didn't care if I looked eager or desperate at that moment, I was too excited to care. "Have fun," I told him, then slowly began to walk to Edward's bedroom.

I stopped at the door and quietly knocked, hoping he would hear it. A few seconds later, the door opened, and Edward stepped aside to let me come in. I smiled at him and stepped into his room. It seemed like it was so long ago since I had last been in here, when I knew that the last time I was here was only this morning.

I quietly shut the door behind me and walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge. I fell back onto the covers and closed my eyes. "This day is going to be so stressful," I mumbled.

I felt the weight shift on the bed, and then I felt Edward's warm hand on my face again. My eyes shot open. He was laying right next to me now, his face only inches away from mine. He was gently stroking my cheek. "It won't be that bad," he promised. "Once Rosalie and Emmett are taken care of, everything will be alright."

I wanted so badly to believe that what he was saying was true, but something inside of me told me it wouldn't be that easy. Emmett was like a little kid, sometimes it was so easy to please him, but at other times, it was impossible. I had no idea how he would react to Rosalie or if he would even like her, but I was desperately hoping he would.

I propped myself up on my elbows, bringing my face even closer to Edward's. He didn't move away, and he still kept his hand on my cheek. There was a question that I was dying to have answered, and, even though I knew it was stupid to ask it, I just had to. "Edward?" I whispered. "What... happened between us? You're acting so different now."

"What do you mean?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"What I mean is that yesterday, you weren't like this. You seem so much closer to me now. And I know it's stupid to ask, but I just want to know, when did this happen?" Once the words came out of my mouth, I instantly wanted to take them back. I sounded so stupid asking him this, and I knew he probably thought that I was an idiot now. _Stupid, stupid Bella._

He stopped stroking my cheek, but still left his hand there. He was staring deeply into my eyes now, and just the intense look he had in his eyes made me blush. His face looked absolutely serious as he stared at me, and I couldn't tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

He sighed, and then slowly moved his hand towards my hair. He gently took one of my curls and began to twirl it around his finger. "Last night," he began. "You... said something in your sleep."

My eyes widened. "What did I say?"

"It wasn't just one thing, it was as if you were having a conversation with me. First, you said my name a couple of times," he said, smiling at the memory. "Then you started saying some random things, like 'I have to study for my English test' or 'I hope Charlie has enough food at home.'"

"But then," he continued. "You started saying things like, 'I can't let Alice win, she can't do this to me again' and 'I can't let this happen'. I was contemplating whether or not to wake you up, or to just let you talk yourself to sleep. I decided that I should let you sleep, and I tried to ignore what you were saying, but it wasn't that easy." He was stroking the top of my head now, staring lovingly into my eyes. I was probably blushing like mad now, but I didn't care. I wanted him to continue.

"And then," he was nearly whispering now. "You started to say my name again. I think one thing you said was, 'Edward, I'm sorry, I can't do this', and that was when I was about ready to wake you up. But then you said something, and..." he paused, looking away from my eyes. Now I was nervous. What could I have said? Was it _really _that bad?"

I lifted up my hand and cupped his face, and he instantly looked back into my eyes. "What did I say, Edward?" I asked him.

He stared at me for a moment, his expression still serious. But then, a small smile began to appear on his face. "I don't know if I can remember every word you said, but I can remember most of it," he told me. "I remember you said, 'I'm sorry if I can't let Alice win, but I can't control that now. I think I'm falling in love with you, Edward.'"

I'm sure that dozens of emotions were playing on my face at that moment. I was scared, relieved, embarrassed, and excited all at the same time. My heart was doing flips right now, and I was having trouble believing this moment was real. I knew I should've said something back to him, but my mouth was dry. I couldn't seem to find any words to say to him. I had no idea how to react to this, I had no idea what I could tell him.

He brought his hand back to my cheek, cupping my face gently. I felt his other hand on the back of my head, intwining with my hair. He was inching closer to me by the second, his scorching eyes staring straight into mine. I could hear that his breathing was uneven now, as was mine. I had enough experience with boys to know what he was going to do next, and I knew he was planning on it when I saw his gaze shift to my lips. There was absolutely nothing stopping him from closing the small space between us, and I knew that I wasn't about to tell him to stop.

Our faces were so close now, I could feel his cool breath on my face, a sensation I had gotten so used to by now. I felt my head start to spin from the sudden proximity between us, and I slowly closed my eyes. The sweet scent I had smelled earlier was back now, and it only made my head spin even more. I was completely intoxicated with him at that moment, and he hadn't even kissed me yet!

Suddenly, I felt his warm lips lightly brush up against mine. It sent chills through out my body, and had me mentally begging for more. I knew that all I had to do was push up a little and there would be absolutely no distance between us, and I was preparing myself to do just that.

I was a second away from pushing myself towards his gorgeous lips when I suddenly heard his bedroom door open. Whoever had opened it must've done it with a lot of force, because I then heard it bang against the wall. I felt Edward tense, and I instantly opened my eyes. He was glaring at whoever was at the door, and it was probably the scariest look I had ever seen on his perfect face. I twisted my head to see who had interrupted us.

Alice stood by the door, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. She was looking back and forth between Edward and I, and I knew she was probably shocked at what she saw before her. I sighed and turned back to Edward. "You really need to get a lock on your door," I whispered to him.

"Guys, I'm really sorry, but... I need your help," she explained. I turned back to look at her, and saw she was now pouting at us. But this time, her puppy-dog pout didn't work on me. I was too furious to feel compassionate for her.

"What's wrong, Alice?" Edward asked her, his tone angry.

"Jasper was cooking something, and he... burned his hand," she explained. I could feel Edward's hands ball up into fists once he heard this, and I swore he was almost shaking with anger.

I sighed and shut my eyes again. "Alice, couldn't Rosalie help you out with that? We're kind of _busy_ right now," I explained, trying to control my anger.

"Well, we just thought that Edward--"

"Tell them Edward is busy right now," he yelled at her. And, not even a second later, I heard the bedroom door slam shut again.

I opened my eyes and looked at Edward's face in complete shock. I didn't know he could get so _angry_ at someone. I knew it should've frightened me, but it had the opposite effect on me. It made me want him even _more._ Now that Alice was gone, he finally relaxed again. His hands were no longer in fists, and he immediately went back to stroking my cheek. He smiled crookedly at me, and my heart began to pick up speed again.

"Now, where were we?"

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**The next chapter will be up either later tonight or early tomorrow morning. I'm sorryyy, but I'll try to get it up as soon as possible. Thanks for all of the great reviews, they make happyy :)**


	8. Explanations

A large part of me wanted to stay there with Edward and pretend like Alice hadn't just come into his room, but I also knew that she needed our help. Of _course_ I wanted to stay there with him, but I knew if something started now, we would be in there for a_ long _time, and now just wasn't the time.

I remained perfectly still as he started to kiss my face again, though it was very difficult. I tried to make myself think of other things, but I kept on getting distracted. His lips were so warm against my face, and they were so tempting. But I made an effort not to move, not to react to him, so that he could understand the message.

It took him a while to realize I wasn't responding to him like I had before. He slowly pulled away to stare down at my face, searching for some answer in my eyes. "What's wrong?" he whispered.

"I think they need our help out there," I told him.

"Do I have to remind you that Alice has interrupted us_ twice _now?" he explained, clearly impatient. "Why give her a chance to do it a third time?"

"I'll just feel much better if I knew that everything was okay."

He looked back and forth between my eyes and my lips, deciding whether or not to let me go. I knew what he wanted, and I knew how hard it was for him to just let me get away again, but we had more than a week to take care of those wants of his. If we didn't have so much time, I would've completely ignored Alice's interruption and continued what we had started, but why rush?

With that in mind, I lightly pushed him off of me. I was surprised that he complied, I was almost positive he would've put up a fight. He fell back onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling. He looked shocked, probably because I had just rejected him. I decided that I would tell him later when things weren't so crazy, and I_ promised _that I would make it up to him.

I quietly jumped off the bed and walked over to the door, stealing one last glance at Edward before I left. He was still lying on the bed, but his eyes were closed now. A wave of guilt passed through me when I realized that I had done this to him, and I wished that I could go back in time and take my words back. _Fix the problems first, Bella, then you can make it up to him..._

I sighed and turned to open the door, quickly running out. I didn't want to have another chance to look back at him, because I knew that if I saw his pained expression again, I would go back to comfort him. I walked into the kitchen where Jasper was sitting at the table with an ice pack on his hand. Alice was sitting down next to him with a phone pressed against her ear, probably asking to her dad what to do. Rosalie was leaning against a wall near the table, playing with one of her blonde curls. She looked up when I came into the room, and she looked quite surprised that I was even there.

"Alice told us that you and Edward were _busy_," she said to me. Jasper instantly looked up at me when she said this, looking just as surprised as she was. Alice didn't look up, it seemed like she was very into the conversation she was having on the phone. I knew that she was worried that Jasper was hurt, even if it was just a small burn. She could be fun and crazy when she wanted to be, but when someone got hurt, she became very serious.

I didn't answer Rosalie, I just walked over to where Alice and Jasper were sitting and sat down in an empty chair. "Are you alright?" I asked him.

He slowly nodded, and I thought I saw a faint smile on his face. "I'm fine, really, but of_ course_ Alice has to make it worse than it actually is," he said. "You should hear some of the things she was saying to her father."

Alice quickly covered the phone with her hand and glared at him. "Well, you _obviously_ don't see how horrible this can get, now do you? 'It's no big deal, it'll just go away'. I think I know more about these sort of things than you do, Jasper, considering that my dad is a doctor. So just let me take care of this and stop eaves-dropping on my conversation!" she yelled at him, her voice suddenly becoming high-pitched. She shoved her chair back and stood up, walking into the kitchen where no one could hear her. I looked back at Jasper and I could tell by his face that he was holding back his laughter.

After a while, Rosalie slowly walked over and sat down in Alice's seat, looking at me with curious eyes. "So Bella, while we're waiting for Alice to get off the phone, would you mind telling me more about your brother? What you said before didn't really give me a good picture of him," she asked me, smiling slightly.

I sighed. Again, I was at a loss for words. There was just so much I could say about Emmett, but it all sounded so cheesy to me. I decided that I might as well tell her the truth and see what she really thought about him, considering that I wanted them to like each other. "Well, Emmett is very _big,_ probably double the size of Alice. He looks very tough on the outside, but, like I said, he's a sweetheart on the inside. You just have to get through to him, you know?" She nodded after everything I said, and I could tell she was really listening. Was she actually that interested in my brother? I shook my head. "Uh, he's a little bit slow, I guess. He's very protective of things, like his family and his friends. He loves to joke around a lot, you can't help but laugh when you're with him. And he's very caring, Alice thinks of him as her own brother."

By now Rosalie's eyes were filled with excitement, and I knew that she would now be counting the minutes until he came to the apartment. Emmett always sounded like an amazing guy when I talked about him, and whenever I tried to introduce him to some of my friends, they would always get excited to meet him, thinking that they would be able to date him. But once they met him, they could only think of him as a big brother or as a good friend. I guess girls never saw him as 'boyfriend material'.

We sat in silence for a few minutes as we waited for Alice to finish up her call. I nervously tapped my fingers on the table, worrying about absolutely _everything_. Will Rose really like Emmett when she meets him? Will he like _her_? Will Alice take the situation with Jasper too far? Is Edward still angry at me? Will he-

"Edward, where have you been?" I heard Jasper say. Before I could even react to what he said, I suddenly felt someones hand on my back, and instantly knew it was him. I didn't turn around to look at him, afraid of what I might see. What if he still looked hurt? I wouldn't be able to take that.

"I was in my room," he said quietly. He began to run his hand up and down my back, instantly giving me goosebumps. It really was pathetic how I reacted to his touch, and I hoped that no one else would notice it.

Alice came skipping back into the room now, stopping right behind Jasper's chair. She wasn't holding the phone anymore, so I guessed that her call was over. "Everything's taken care of," she announced. "Jasper, just keep a bandage on the burn for now, and later, we'll go buy some ointment at a store," she said, looking down at him. He nodded, and I could tell he was relieved that she wasn't dragging him to the hospital. She smiled and kissed the top of his head before looking back at all of us.

"So, is that it? Is the big family emergency over now?" Rosalie joked.

Alice rolled her eyes at her. "Yes, it's over, Rosalie," she said, leaning her head down so her chin was resting on the top of Jasper's head.

Rosalie then turned to face me, a small smile on her face. "When is Emmett coming?" she asked.

"Soon," I told her, shrugging. "I'm not sure exactly what time, but-"

"Then I'll just go get ready now," she interrupted me. She pushed her chair back and stood up, walking away from the table and into Jasper's room. She closed the door halfway behind her, probably expecting someone to follow her.

Alice took a step away from Jasper, but left her hands on the top of his chair. "Come on, let's go put something over your burn," she told him. He sighed and stood up, turning away from the table. She grabbed his good hand and practically dragged him into his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind them.

I just at there in complete shock. One minute, everyone had been panicking about Jasper getting hurt, and now, everyone was off doing their own thing again. It was amazing how quickly the mood could shift here. But, then again, I'm sure Alice wouldn't have left if Edward wasn't there. She probably thought that, now that we were alone, we would continue what we were doing before as if there was no interuption from her.

"Well that was stupid," I heard Edward mumble. I turned around in my chair so that I could face him, looking up at his face. I saw that he was smiling now. I immediately felt relieved. He took his hand away from my back and placed it on the back of my chair. "So are you convinced that everything is okay now?" he asked me. I slowly nodded. "Good."

He walked around my chair so that he was standing in front of me now, and quickly slipped his hand under my legs. He lifted me up off of the chair, placing his other hand on my back to support me. I instantly wrapped my arms around his neck, afraid that he might drop me. I looked up at him, and I was not surprised to see that he was still smiling. He liked to surprise me like this, he always found it entertaining.

He carefully carried me into his room, kicking the door shut when we were inside. He placed me down on the bed and I immediatly sat up, crossing my legs. I felt him sit down next to me, and I quickly turned around to face him. He was laying down with his hands behind his head, his eyes closed.

"Edward," I said quietly. "What were you doing after I left? It took you a while to come out to join everyone."

He kept his eyes closed, but his lips turned up into a smile. "I was calling to see when someone could come install a lock in my room," he said casually.

I took a second to see if he was actually being serious. When his expression didn't change, I understood that he really was. I rolled my eyes. "You're unbelievable."

"I like having my privacy."

I sighed and leaned back, staring at him intently. He peeked to see if I was looking at him, and once he saw that I was, he opened his eyes fully. "What?" he asked.

I smiled and shook my head. "You heard me. I said you're unbelievable. Are you really going to get a lock installed after that? If this is all because of me, then that's just really stupid," I told him.

"_I'm_ unbelievable?" he shot back. "What about you? Why did you freak out when Alice came in here? We both knew Jasper would be fine."

"Well, what if he wasn't fine? What if it was really bad? Don't you care about your room mate at all? ?" I asked him.

His expression softened when I said this, and I knew I had hit a soft spot. Of course he cared for Jasper, how could I even ask that? He looked me straight in the eyes and sighed, pushing himself up so that he was sitting. "Of course I care about him, I don't want you to think that I don't. I just got a little... impatient, I guess, and angry when Alice came in. But I guess you're right," he admitted. "I'm sorry."

I didn't want it to become awkward between us, I refused to let it become awkward between us. I forced a smile onto my face and tilted my head to the side. "I'm _always_ right," I said sarcastically.

I was happy to see his pained expression suddenly shift when he smiled. He didn't answer me, he just reached out and gently touched my face. My cheeks instantly heated up at his touch, and this only made him smile even more. Unthinkingly, I leaned forward to shorten the distance between us. He brought up his other hand and gently grabbed my face with it, forcing me to stay very still.

I knew that now, after all of the interruptions we had before, he wouldn't stop. Even if someone came running into the room, he wouldn't get distracted. As he leaned forward, I prayed that no one would come in and ruin this moment again.


	9. The First Kiss

**Yeah, so you see, I've written stories like this before, only I've never really gotten to the part where the two characters kiss or do anything in them. So it took me a while to get this chapter done. Whenever I wrote something, I always thought it sounded really, really stupid and made myself rewrite it ten more times. So yes, I'm sorry, I'll try to update more now. :)**

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He pushed me back on to the bed and moved so that he was on top of me now. It reminded me of what happened on the couch, only this time, I wasn't going to tell him to stop. He slowly ran his hands through my hair while he gently kissed my neck, his lips leaving a burning sensation on my skin.

He then began to kiss up my neck and along my jawline, leading up to my ear. By now my eyes were closed and I was biting my lip to keep any noises from involuntarily coming out of my mouth. If I thought his touch made me react in an embarrassing way, then I definitely didn't want anyone to see how I reacted when he kissed me. He moved so painfully slow, yet I could feel how urgent his lips were. He wanted to full out kiss me just as much I wanted him to, but I guess he liked to take his time.

I thought I had my body completely under control while he was kissing me, until I felt him start to nibble on my earlobe. That had a different effect on me. I heard a low moan escape from my lips, and I quickly brought up my hand to grab his hair. I moved around a little from under him, and I knew this wouldn't pass by him. I immediately felt his body tense up, but he didn't stop. He moved to the spot just under my ear and left a light kiss there, before he moved to my temple, now trailing down to my cheek.

By now, I was getting very impatient, and wished I could do something to make him move faster. But I couldn't force him to move even if I put all of my strength into it, and if I turned my head, I would just find myself pressed up against his neck. He had his body pressed up against mine and I could barely move around, but it was still worth a try. As he was kissing my cheek, I raised my hips a small fraction off the bed so that I was pressed up against him even more. I moved myself up and down his body, instantly making me ache for him even more. I felt very satisfied when I heard a low groan come out of his perfect lips. His lips began to move a little bit faster now, and I couldn't help but smile.

Before I knew it, his lips were on the corner of my mouth, teasing me even more. I had had enough by now, and I refused to wait. I waited a second to see if he would move, giving him one last chance. When he didn't, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I twisted my head a fraction and suddenly, my lips were pressed against his.

It took him about a second to realize what I had done, and then, his lips were moving with mine. His lips felt even softer and warmer against mine, if that was even possible. My heart was beating like crazy by now, and I knew he could feel it. It was beating so fast, I could practically_ hear_ it now.

I felt his tongue on my bottom lip, practically begging for entrance, but I wouldn't let him. He had teased me before, and now, it was my turn. I kept my mouth closed, trying my best to keep the kiss innocent. By now I had both of my hands tangled in his beautiful bronze hair, pushing him even closer to me. I was getting too into the kiss, and soon, I was fighting to keep it innocent.

When I felt his warm tongue slide along my bottom lip again, I lost control yet again. I instantly allowed him access, and he quickly took advantage of it. His tongue plunged into my mouth and began to caress mine, trying to get another reaction from me. I couldn't control my emotions anymore, and I immediately responded. He tasted so sweet, and his tongue was so _warm, _I couldn't help but moan as he explored my mouth. I some how got my right leg out from under him and instantly wrapped it around his waist, trying to get him even closer to me. I could feel every part of his body against mine, every perfect muscle. It was like a dream.

After a few minutes, I had to pull my face away from his to get some much needed air. His lips didn't leave me, though, he just moved down to devour my neck. He wasn't leaving light kisses any more, and I knew that he was trying to give me a hickey. I closed my eyes and concentrated on getting my breathing back to normal.

I turned my head to the side to give him better acces to my neck, finally opening my eyes. I now found myself staring at his digital clock. Although the table was far from the bed, I could still see that it read** 5:30 PM**. My eyes widened. Emmett had left around four o'clock, I remembered that. It never took him that long to get settled in a new place, and I knew he would be done by now. If he was done unpacking all of his things, then he would should definitely be coming over to the apartment by now.

I gasped and pushed Edward off of me. This took him by surprise, and he instantly rolled over on the bed next to me. I tried to sit up and jump off the bed at the same time, which didn't turn out so well. I lost control and found myself tumbling off the bed and crashing on to the floor, landing very hard on the wood floor. I could feel the pain in my back, but I was too worried about Emmett to care about it. As I sat up, I heard Edward get off the bed, and in a second, he was kneeling in front of me.

"Are you okay?" he asked me. He sounded completely concerned about me instead of angry that I had pulled away from him. I opened my mouth to answer him, but all I could think about was how messy his bronze hair was, more messy than usual, and how his beautiful green eyes were still so full of lust. His shirt was wrinkled and the button on his pants was undone, something I didn't remember doing. I could see that he was breathing very heavily now, just like me.

"Bella?" he asked again, now reaching out to grab my cheek. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"It's five thirty," I answered.

He looked at me with wide eyes, probably expecting me to explain my answer. It took me a second to realize that he didn't know what was the importance of this time and he didn't know that Emmett would be arriving soon. When I figured this out, I instantly blushed.

"Emmett left at four, and I know it never takes him an hour and a half to get ready. He's going to be here any minute now. I'm sorry, I really am, it's just-"

I was suddenly silenced when I felt his warm lips against mine again. I could feel the smile on his face, and I noticed that his lips weren't as urgent as they were before. Much to my disappointment, he pulled away from me, still holding my face delicately. "It's alright, Bella," he whispered. "Just promise me that tonight, when Emmett goes back to his friend's apartment, we'll just pretend like this never happen." He now had a small smirk on his face, and I instantly knew where his thoughts were headed to. I felt myself blush even more.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say. I have to go," I quickly mumbled, finally getting up. Once I was standing, I nearly ran towards the door, pulling it open as fast as I could. I left it open for Edward, but I was too worried to wait for him to come out with me. I rushed into the kitchen and went straight for the phone. I dialed Emmett's cell phone number as quickly as I could, but it was rather difficult, since my hands were shaking. Once I had dialed the number, I pressed the phone to my ear and waited for him to answer.

"Hello?" I finally heart Emmett's voice. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Emmett, where the hell are you?" I asked him, not being able to keep my voice calm.

"I'm on my way, jeez, calm down, Bella," he shot back.

I let his words sink in, and then, I suddenly felt like the luckiest girl alive. While my over-protective brother was out with his friends, I managed to hook up with a complete _angel,_ and I was able to stop the situation from getting any worse just in time. Why were things suddenly going my way? "Alright, I was just wondering," I told my brother. "I'll see you soon, alright?"

"Yes, you will. And tell your new boyfriend that he better be fucking prepared," Emmett answered sarcastically. Even though he was kidding, I knew that the threat was real behind the humor. After he said this, I heard the dial-tone, and knew he had hung up.

I put the phone down on the kitchen counter and closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath. Edward was so irresistible, how would I be able to control myself while Emmett was here? How would I be able to wait until tonight, when Emmett was safely away from us? I knew that if Edward and I did anything tonight in front of Emmett, he would probably break Edward's arm. Even something as little as a kiss on the cheek would make Emmett freak out.

How would I be able to make it through tonight?

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**Sorry for the short chapter. I'll try to get the next one up as soon as possible. And I don't really count that as someone interrupting them, since no one actually burst into the room or anything. And they finally got to kiss, it was just cut a little short ;)**


	10. A History Lesson

**I was rereading some of the chapters and realized I have some gaps that I need to fill in. So this chapter is pretty much all about Bella finding out more about Edward. Kind of. Thanks for all the great reviews! :)**

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I moved to the kitchen table and sat down in an empty chair. I covered my face with my hands and tried to think clearly. I heard someone else come into the room and sit down in the chair next to me, and I assumed that it was Edward. I was about to explain everything to him, until I heard a small, high-pitched voice.

"Bella, are you okay?" Alice asked me. My eyes shot open when I heard her voice, I was not expecting to hear it.

I shook my head and tried to focus again. "Yeah, everything is alright," I lied.

Somehow, Alice could always tell when I was lying, along with everyone else. I had been told numerous times what a bad liar I was, and I guessed that I still hadn't improved. She instantly grabbed my hands and pushed her chair a little closer to mine. "What's wrong? What, are you upset about hooking up with _Edward_?" she asked, a small grin on her face.

I stared at her in disbelief. "How do you _already _know about that?" I whispered.

"Bella, I am your best friend, I know everything," she explained. "And you look like a mess. I figured you went to Edward's bedroom after everything that happened out here, and so I just _assumed..."_She didn't finish her sentence, probably not able to find the right words to say, which made me grateful. I really didn't want to discuss this, but I knew I had to. Alice _always_ wanted to discuss these sort of things.

"Alice, do you know a lot about Edward?" I asked her. She seemed confused by my question, but she still nodded her head. "Then can I ask you something? Does he... do this a lot? You know, hook up with girls he's only known for a _day_?"

She sighed and narrowed her eyes, examining my expression. "Bella, I don't think you really understand Edward that well yet," she began. "I'm sure you think he's some kind of playboy, and I guess he used to be. A few months ago, he would have a different girl here every _night_, at least that's what Jasper told me. But then he met this girl named Lauren, did he ever tell you about her?"

Lauren- her name rang a bell. I was positive he had brought her up before, so I nodded. "Then I guess you know she's his ex girlfriend," she continued. "She was a total_ bitch_, and you know I don't ever call anyone those kind of names. But when I think about her, it's the only word I can use to describe her. She only wanted to by physical while Edward liked to get to know a girl before he did anything. I guess you can say he sort of jumped into the whole relationship without thinking about it, he probably got tired of all of the girls he was bringing home and just wanted to settle down. They stayed together for about two months, I think, until she finally dumped him for some other guy. I was there when it happened, and he told us all about it. Bella, you have to believe me, the look on his face that night was heart breaking. It's a look I'll never be able forget. He looked so crushed, and he said that he felt so used. He promised us that he wouldn't fall for another girl like he fell for Lauren until he really got to know her. And we believed him."

"So a few weeks ago, he found out about that music festival we're supposed to be going to," she said. "And when he said he had extra tickets, I immediately told him I would be inviting you. I had never mentioned you to him before, and he became interested. So I told him about you."

I had been listening intently while she was talking and everything she had said interested me, but her last sentance caught me completely off guard. "You _told_ him about me? What did you say?" I asked her nervously. "You didn't tell him anything embarrassing, did you?"

"Calm down, Bella," she answered, rolling her eyes. "Couldn't you tell? Remember when you two first met? He already knew your name before you even introduced yourself. I told him how we became best friends, how you were great in all of your classes, about your little dilemma with your college choices, I think I told him a little bit about your brother, and I also told him about Mike."

"You told him about _Mike_?" I yelled, not being able keep the anger out of my voice anymore. What she was telling me was really starting to get to me, I could feel my eyes begin to sting. "Why would you tell him about Mike?"

"Because he asked if you had a boyfriend," she answered. "And I guess he could just tell that you had some history with him."

"He could just tell? _HE COULD JUST TELL_?" I was desperately trying to keep myself from jumping Alice at that moment, but it was becoming more difficult by the minute. How could she _do_ this? As if I hadn't already embarrassed myself enough in front of Edward, she had to embarrass me, too!

"Bella, please, just hear me out," she begged me. "After I told him about you, he became really interested. He wanted to meet you. I seriously thought you two would end up as friends, but when he first saw you, it was... I don't know what to say. He had heard so much about you from me and Jasper, and when he finally got to meet you, he looked speechless. I had never seen him look at Lauren like that before, or any other girl. I had never really believed in love at first sight until I saw the way he looked at you."

"Now I know you're probably wondering what this has to do with your original question. I know you two have only known each other for a short time, but he's known about you for a long time already. You two are so alike, I'm surprised you didn't meet him earlier. Anyway, like I said, he told us that he wanted to get to know a girl before he did anything with her. And trust me, Bella, he knows you _a lot_, more than you even know."

I was extremely flattered by what she was saying, but I couldn't help but still be a little annoyed with her. "Alright, alright, but how do you know he really... _likes_ me? So he knows about me and you saw him give me a _look_ when we first met. How do you know he's not just sorry for me?"

She sighed and brought her legs up to her chair and crossed them, finally dropping my hands and folding them in her lap. "Do you remember when you two fell asleep on the couch?" she asked with a smile. "Was it really only last night?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Alice, I do remember. Can you _please_ just tell me the story?"

"Alright, so Jasper and I came home pretty late, and that's where we found you two on the couch," she explained. "Jasper woke him up, and at first he wasn't too happy about it, until he saw that you were in his arms. It was quite cute, actually. So we were about to ask him how you two ended up in that position, but we didn't have to. While he was staring at you, he just let it all out."

She paused to see my reaction, and I raised my eyebrows at her, urging her to continue. When she paused, I could tell that it wasn't going to be a simple story. "He told us what you guys had talked about that night, and how you fell asleep in his arms while you were watching some movie on TV. I don't think you remember it, but it doesn't matter."

"He said that when we talked about you, you seemed too perfect, he didn't believe that you were real. And that when he met you and got to know you, everything became different. He thought it was weird that you two had similar stories, with your exes and everything. And do you know he also had some trouble picking out his college at first? He was in the same situation as you are in now. And when he saw the picture we took of you two together, it just made him feel for you even more. Do you even know how perfectly you fit into his arms? It's insane how perfect you guys are for each other."

I placed my head on the table and pulled at my hair. This was _crazy_. It was like some Disney movie, this couldn't be real. I came here this weekend to go listen to some music with Alice, not to fall in love with a boy I'd only known for a day. All of this information that was coming at me was making my head spin, and I couldn't seem to take it all in. Edward had known about me for weeks already, Alice had planned this out perfectly. It all seemed like a complete set up, but I couldn't make myself be angry at any of them. And when she told me all of these things about Edward, I completely understood her. Edward and I _did_ seem perfect for each other, and when you've found your other half, does it really matter how long you've known each other?

I shook my head. No, I didn't know him, I couldn't be able to tell he was my other half now. Why was I believing everything that Alice told me? What if she was lying to me? I knew that Alice would never lie to me, especially when her story sounded so believable, but I couldn't accept it. I couldn't accept_ this._ I wasn't the kind of girl who would start dating a boy after knowing him for a _day_, I wasn't like that.

I felt Alice's small hand on my shoulder, obviously trying to calm me down, but I just shook it off. I heard her sigh from beside me. "Bella, please, tell me what you're thinking."

"Alice, this is insane," I told her. "This isn't normal. I've known Edward for a day, how can I possibly know that he's the one for me? This is going way too fast, Alice. It feels like weeks have passed by already. This can't be happening Alice, it just can't."

I knew that she was about to say something to me, but she was quickly interrupted when we heard a knock at the door. I shut my eyes tightly to keep the tears from slipping out. I suddenly felt Alice's hand on my shoulder again. "Today is _really_ not your lucky day," she mumbled.


	11. Emmett and Rosalie

**So, allow me to explain. I know that Bella's reaction was kind of _whoah,_ and at first, I didn't want it to be like that. But once I thought about it and once I put myself in her position, I guess I would've reacted the same way. Just think about it. If my best friend told me that a guy I had known for less than one day was madly in love with me, I wouldn't be all "oh my god, that's so wonderful! let's go get married!" No, I would be more liike "wtf?" Even if he was as gorgeous as Edward. But yeah, this is only _day two_ of their trip. I have a lot more planned. Don't worry, Bella will come around ;)**

* * *

Alice could see I was a complete mess at that moment, so she got up to answer the door. We both already knew it was Emmett, who else would it be? We weren't expecting any one else.

I heard her open the door and give out a small shriek, and then I heard several banging noises. "Emmett, put me down!" I heard her scream. I knew that if my head wasn't spinning, I would have gotten up to help her, but I couldn't make myself stand up. I was still mixed up from the conversation with Alice to think about anything else. Besides, I knew that Emmett would never hurt Alice, so I had nothing to worry about.

Suddenly, I felt two very large hands on my shoulders, shaking me. "Bella, wake up! You can sleep once I'm gone!" Emmett yelled, continuing to shake me. I could feel my stomach start to churn and I could feel my throat start to swell up. _Oh, lord._

"Emmett, please, stop," I mumbled. The shaking wasn't helping my head and I could feel myself become more and more nauseous by the minute. He immediately stopped once he heard my voice, and instead pulled up the chair Alice was sitting in and began to pat my back lightly. I sighed and silently thanked him. It was moments like this that really made me appreciate having Emmett as a brother; he was always so caring and so sweet. I was sure that anyone else would've kept shaking me until I threw up, but Emmett had such a kind soul. He really was one in a million.

"Emmett, why don't you leave Bella alone and come meet Rosalie?" Alice suggested. Even though my head was spinning, I sat up when she offered this, because it was something I couldn't miss. I was very interested in how Rosalie and Emmett would react to each other, it was scary. I didn't really care about what they talked about, I just wanted to be there the moment they saw each other. I had never cared about who my brother dated, until now.

"Guys, if this is just a way to distract me-" Emmett began, but was quickly interupted my Alice.

"Emmett, even if we didn't try to set you guys up, you would still be very... _distracted _by Rosalie," Alice said. And it was true, when Rosalie was around, every guy became nervous. I had never met a guy that didn't want Rosalie, and a part of me knew Emmett wouldn't be able to resist her.

Emmett was about to say something back to her, until Jasper and Rosalie entered the room. She had a huge smile on her face as she looked at Emmett, and it was obvious that she was satisfied with what she saw. Her eyes looked determined, and I knew that she wouldn't be leaving him alone now. I turned to look at Emmett, and he looked... well, bored. But, knowing Emmett, he was probably pretending like he didn't think she was drop dead gorgeous and was acting as if she was just an ordinary girl. But I knew on the inside, he was probably screaming like a little girl.

I stood up and pushed my chair back, which I instantly regretted. My head started to throb again, and I had to grip the back of the chair to stand up straight. I decided that it would be better if I got some medicine instead of sit and watch Emmett and Rosalie get to know each other. I had plenty of time to listen to them talk later.

I walked into the kitchen and began to open all of the cabinets, trying to find the one with all of the medications. I searched for a few seconds until I began to debate whether or not to just ask Alice where they were. I reached up to open one more, when I suddenly felt someone grab my hand and pull me away from the cabinets.

I was then facing Edward, who was holding a bottle of Tylenol in his hand. I gulped as I stared at him. "How did you know-" I began to ask him, but was cut off.

"I saw you sitting at the table a few minutes ago, and you looked like you were about to throw up," he said. "So I guessed you weren't feeling well."

"So you really _are _good at reading people."

"I told you so."

I smirked and opened the bottle, turning away from him only so I could get some water. There was already an open bottle on the counter, and since I was close to everyone who was staying at the houe, I grabbed it, not caring whose it was before. I swallowed two pills and took a sip from the bottle. I was about to turn around to face Edward again until I felt his arms snake around my waist, pulling me against his chest. My heart began to speed up.

"How long until your brother leaves?" he whispered into my ear. His cool breath fanned against my neck, instantly giving my goosebumps.

I sighed. "He's gonna be here for a while," I answered, my voice shaking a little.

He didn't say anything, he just pressed his face into my hair, tightening his grip around my waist. At that moment, I didn't care that Emmett was in the next room and might be able to see us. I didn't care about anything else. Edward usually had that effect on me.

I felt his lips on my hair, leaving light kisses everywhere. I closed my eyes and sighed. I didn't know when we would be able to be alone again, so why not appreciate the moment? He moved his hands down my sides, until he got to my hips. He pushed me closer to him until there was no more space between us. He moved away from my hair and pressed his lips gently against my neck, lightly brushing over it. I sighed and leaned my head back, giving him better access. I could feel him smiling now.

I was surprised when he suddenly spun me around to face him, his hands still on my waist. He lifted me up and placed me down on the counter, pushing my legs open. He slowly moved closer to me, never taking his eyes away from mine. The intensity in his gaze made me blush, but I couldn't look away from him. He had a smirk on his face, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.

He was right in front of me now, and for once, we were actually the same height. I guess placing me on the counter worked out well for both of us. He brought his hand up to brush a stray hair away from my eyes, tucking it behind my ear. He left his hand on my cheek, pulling me closer to him. He teased me again by just lightly brushing his lips over mine, before he leaned in a little bit more.

Kissing Edward really was unlike kissing any other boy, and believe me, I have kissed other boys. When he kissed me, it was a completely new feeling. My head would start to spin and I would forget how to speak properly. My body would do things I wasn't telling it to, which always put me in horrible situations. And that's just what happened.

I leaned into him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him even closer. I wrapped my legs around his waist, refusing to have any space between us. And when his tongue trailed across my bottom lip, I opened my lips without a second thought. This time, he let my tongue explore his mouth. He tasted so good, I thought I would never be able to get enough of him.

I heard him let out a sigh, and knew that we had to pull away. Sooner than I hoped, his lips were off of mine, and he leaned his forehead against mine. His cheeks were a little red and his eyes looked very excited, but then again, so did mine. As he stared at me, his lips turned up into the most beautiful crooked smile.

I sighed as I stared at him. "Do you think you'll be able to control yourself until my brother leaves?" I whispered to him.

"Probably not."


	12. Knock, Knock

When Edward and I went back into the living room, we were both surprised to see that Emmett and Rosalie had left. Now, Alice and Jasper were sitting at the small table by the kitchen. Alice was holding Jasper's injured hand in both of hers, caressing it gently. She didn't look up at us when we came into the room, but Jasper did. When he saw us, he smiled. "Where have you two been?" he asked.

I smiled, but ignored his question. "Where are Emmett and Rosalie?" I asked. This made him smile even more.

"Rosalie said she wanted to show him something cool she had on her phone, I don't know," he answered, chuckling a little. "I don't even want to know what they're doing in my bedroom right now."

My jaw dropped at his answer. I had expected them to like each other, but I didn't expect things to go so_ fast _between them. "_Already_?" I asked him. I moved away from Edward and leaned against Alice's chair, never looking away from Jasper.

"Yeah, already. They're worse than you and Edward," he said, glancing over at Edward. He gave him a small wink before he turned to face me again. "But you didn't answer my question, where were you two before?"

I could feel myself blushing now, and I instantly dropped my eyes. "We were in the kitchen," I answered him. "My head hurt and he gave me some Tylenol. Nothing _exciting_." When did I become such a good liar?

Alice quickly placed Jasper's hand down on the table and turned to face me, a small smile on her face. I knew that she knew the truth, but she wouldn't dare say anything. I guess she hadn't forgotten about our little incident by the car our first day here. "So what do you want to do tonight? We have to entertain Emmett some how," she told me. "I was thinking we could go to some local bar, but then I remembered that we're just a_ little _under age."

I sighed as I thought through all of the possibilities. "Well, we can't take him out to some fancy restaurant, he'd annoy the hell out of every one else there. He doesn't like musicals or plays, or really anything that involves staying silent and still for more than half an hour," I explained to her. "So what other options do we have?"

"There's this one place that I think he might like," Edward said. He took a few steps closer to me as he spoke. "It's not a bar, but it's not a five-star restaurant, either."

"So it's like... a trashy restaurant?" Alice asked, a smile on her face. Edward nodded. "Sounds perfect for Emmett."

I rolled my eyes and pulled one of her spikes. "Alice, you're talking about my brother!"

"You know it's true."

Alice got up from her seat and then turned to me, pushing down on my shoulders until I sat down in the empty chair. "You guys stay right here, I'm going to go find out what Emmett and Rosalie are _really_ doing," she announced.

"Do you _really_ want to know?" Jasper asked her. She shrugged, but continued walking towards his bedroom. The door was closed, so she knocked. When she didn't get an answer, she knocked again. When no one answered this time, she just kicked the door in and walked inside. I was so afraid of what I might see, I had to cover my eyes.

After that, there was silence as we waited for someone to emerge. But nothing happened, no one came out. I dropped my hands away from my eyes so I could see if anything would happen. As I stared into the blank room, I heard Alice let out a small giggle. I looked at Jasper, who looked just as confused as I did. When I looked back at the door, I saw Alice stumbling out, clutching her stomach, and laughing.

"Alice? What happened?" I asked her. She couldn't answer me, since she was laughing so hard. Behind her, Emmett and Rosalie finally came out of the room. Emmett had a lipstick stain on his neck and on his cheek, and looked very excited. Rosalie was holding some lipstick and lip gloss in her hand, and it didn't take me that long to realize that _she_ had given Emmett the lipstick stains. I covered my face in embarrassment.

"What the hell?" I heard Edward ask them when they came out. "How did _this _happen?"

"Well," Rosalie began. "I was showing him something on my phone, like I _said,_when I found this new lipstick I bought. It said that it didn't leave any stains, and I didn't think it was true. So I asked Emmett if I could try it out on him. And then Alice came and interrupted us."

I brought my hands down and looked at Alice, who was still clutching her stomach. "How is that_ funny_, Alice? You look like you're about to pass out!" I didn't understand how something so_ stupid _could make her laugh so hard.

"I don't know why she's laughing," Rosalie said. "Alice has a weird sense of humor."

I looked over at Emmett, who had a huge smile on his face. He turned on his heel and walked back into the bedroom and into the bathroom, probably to wash off the lipstick stains. Rosalie put the lipstick and lip gloss into her pocket, then walked over to the table. She placed her hand on the back of Jasper's chair, but looked at me as she spoke. "So what are we doing tonight?" she asked.

I was too busy staring at Alice to answer her. She was now on the floor, and I swear I could see tears in her eyes. She was gasping for air inbetweenher laughs and her face was becoming pink. I still didn't understand how this was so funny to her, I found it kind of sick. But then again, Alice and I were opposites; we thought differently on a lot of things. I sighed and shook my head.

"We're going to this one place that's close to here, I don't think you've ever been there before," Edward explained to Rosalie. "Emmett will like it, but I don't think you will."

Rosalie shrugged. "Whatever you say."

"Uh, Jasper?" I asked, looking over at him. "Do you think we should... maybe get Alice some water?" Jasper stood up once I said this and nearly ran to the kitchen. He emerged a few seconds later with the same water bottle that I had drank from before, and walked over to where Alice was sitting. Just looking at the water bottle and thinking about the incident in the kitchen again made me blush.

By the time Alice had gotten herself together, everyone decided that we should get ready to go out. I brought very little with me, so I was stuck with nothing to wear. Thankfully, Alice said she had something for me to try on. She dragged me into Jasper's room along with Rosalie, while the guys did... well, I'm not sure where they went, they probably didn't even want to change.

Alice sat me down on the bed and brought out her make up bag. She handed it to Rosalie while she walked over to the closet, looking for something I could wear. While she was looking for clothes, Rosalie started to put some make up on my face. I didn't know what she was using, I wasn't that well educated in make up products, but if it would make me look as perfect and flawless as she did, then I didn't mind.

Alice pulled out a tight, black dress from her closet and threw it at me. I held it out in front of me to examine it. It wasn't a _dress_, it was a tube top, but she expected me to wear it as a dress. I rolled my eyes. "Alice, are you serious? We're going out to _eat_, and it's not even a fancy restaurant. Can't I wear a pair of jeans and a regular t-shirt?"

"Do you _want_ Edward to notice you or not?" she shot back at me.

I heard Rosalie giggle, and I immediately averted my gaze to her. "I think Bella already _got_ Edward's attention," she said. "Just let her wear whatever she wants to. We're not going to a stripper bar, Alice."

"Not_ tonight_," Alice joked, yet I couldn't help but take her seriously. God knows what Alice had planned for me.

Twenty minutes later, my hair and make up was done and I was dressed in a pair of jeans and a black tank top. Rosalie and Alice were putting their make up on in the bathroom while I sat patiently on the bed. My eyes darted towards the door, and I tried to figure out if I could get out without them noticing. I decided that my chances were pretty good, so I quickly jumped off the couch and tip-toed to the door, opening it and closing it silently behind me.

When I got into the living room, I had to do a double take. Jasper had folded my makeshift bed back so that it was now a couch again. Did he think I would be spending the rest of my trip sleeping in Edward's room, then? I shook my head and tried to forget about it. Jasper was sitting on the couch next to Emmett, and they looked like they were in a deep conversation. Emmett looked up at me when I came into the room, and instantly smiled. "Hey, Bells, you look hot!" he yelled.

I laughed quietly and blushed. I knew he was joking; there was nothing hot about jeans and a tank top, especially not on me. "_Thanks,_ Emmett," I said. "I, uh, forgot my purse somewhere. Have you seen it?" I lied. I knew I didn't bring a purse here, but I knew that if I asked them, they would say no, which would give me an excuse to look around the house for it. It would give me an excuse to sneak into Edward's room.

"Nope, sorry, Bells," Emmett replied, falling right into my trap. I tried to hide my smile.

"It's alright, I'm just gonna... look around the place, then," I told them. Jasper raised his eyebrows at me, and I just smiled innocently. I knew he suspected something, but he didn't say anything about it, thankfully.

After a few moments, Jasper and Emmett went back to their conversation. I took this as a chance to make my way into Edward's room. As I passed by them, I pretended to look around, as if I were looking for my purse, until I found myself right at Edward's door. I didn't knock, I didn't think it was necessary any more. I knew I was always welcome into his room. I opened the door quietly and jumped inside, closing it shut behind me.

I looked around the room for Edward, until my eyes finally landed on him. For a moment, I forgot how to breath.

He was changing, and he was in the middle of taking off his t-shirt. I'm sure he didn't notice me walk in, since I tried to be very quiet as I did so. I didn't say anything to him when I first saw him, all I could do was stare at his beautiful, bare chest in front of me. I had never seen someone so fit before; his muscles were _amazing._ He was so perfect, it just wasn't fair.

My heart was pounding already and dozens of thoughts swarmed into my brain, and I tried my hardest to fight them off. I had to get through dinner with Emmett tonight, I couldn't be thinking these sort of things. I gulped and shut my eyes. "Hi, Edward," I mumbled.

Even though I had my eyes closed, I could imagine him freezing in place when he heard my voice, with his shirt not even off yet, staring at me. I could almost picture the smirk he had on his face at the moment. "Bella, I didn't hear you come in," he replied back.

I sighed and nodded my head. Yes, now I _definitely _regretted coming in without knocking first.


	13. Bedroom Talk

"Bella, why are you closing your eyes?" he asked me, his tone sarcastic. He knew the effect he had on me, there was no doubt about it, and he was using it against me. How could he find this funny?

"Because, Edward, I have to act somewhat normal during dinner tonight, and having a mental picture of your chest is not going to make it much easier for me," I told him truthfully.

I heard him chuckle, and then a few shuffling noises. "Don't worry, I have a shirt on now." I opened my eyes a little to get a peek, and then finally opened them when I saw that he was telling the truth. I let out a sigh of relief and moved to sit on his bed. I brought my legs up and crossed them, placing my hands neatly on my lap.

He continued to stand by the bed, stretching his arms out above him. This pulled his shirt up, and gave me a small view of his stomach again. I gulped and quickly averted my eyes. "So," he began. "Do you think your brother likes me?"

"Yes," I answered too quickly.

Even though I wasn't looking at him, I could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke. "And how do you know that?"

"Because, I just..." I had no idea how to put this into words. I looked down at my hands and tried to think of a simple way to explain it. "You see, when Emmett first met Mike, he instantly started throwing out questions at him. He asked him all about his personal life and about his family and about his future, just so he can make him nervous. He always did that when I brought a boy to meet him and my dad, actually. He was always so mean and rude around my other boyfriends, but not around you."

"Are you saying that I'm your boyfriend now?" he asked me. I froze at his question, biting my lower lip as hard as I could. I wished I could take back my words again, I wished I could go back in time. What was I going to say _now_?

"Uh, I really don't know what... you are... to me, I mean, I just, I mean-" I stammered. Again, I had no how how to put my thoughts into words. I didn't think of him as a boyfriend, not at all, but he also wasn't just a friend. What did that make him, then?

He laughed nervously now, which made me turn to look at him. He looked confused, just as I was. I now realized that he also didn't know what we were, and he would've probably answered the same way as I did. It was too early to decide anything. "So you don't think it'll be too bad today? At dinner?" he asked me again.

"No, I don't think so," I told him. "And if it does get bad, I can always just have a little chat with Emmett to calm him down."

He smiled at me and walked over to the bed, sitting down next to me. He placed his hand on my knee and started to rub it gently. Even though he was being careful with me, even this small gesture made my heart speed up. I sighed and shook my head. "Why are you asking?" I asked him. "Haven't you ever met a girl who had an over-protective brother or something?" I could really care less about his past girlfriends, but I just had to ask. Mike had never met a girl with a brother like Emmett, and I wondered if Edward ever had.

Surprisingly, he shook his head. "Not a brother. But this one time, I went out with this girl and we ran into her ex-boyfriend. He, uh, didn't react so well," he told me. "Yeah, he gave me a nice black eye."

"What?!" I yelled, jumping off the bed. Before I knew it, I was standing right in front of him, gently touching his face. His eyes widened in response, but I didn't pull away.

"It was a long time ago," he told me, his voice shaking a little. "And it wasn't that bad. Sure, it hurt, but it looked _awesome_."

I laughed a little, but still didn't move away from him. _Finally, _I got some reaction from him. I had finally made him nervous, while all this time he was doing that to me. I smiled as I moved my hands up to his hair, grabbing a handful of it. He smiled at me, and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. He rested his head against my stomach, and I wondered if he could feel all of the butterflies I had. Slowly, he lifted up my shirt until my stomach was revealed, and began to leave light kisses there.

Usually when a boy even touches a girls stomach, it instantly makes her self conscious. That's what always happened to me, but now, it seemed to have the opposite effect. It made the butterflies in my stomach flutter even more, and even made me blush. It was crazy how I reacted around Edward, everything seemed to be the opposite.

He began to kiss up my stomach, pulling my shirt up even more as he moved. And then, suddenly, he began to kiss back down, stopping at my belly button. His lips felt like fire dragging across my skin, but despite this, it still made me shiver. I then felt his tongue dart inside of my belly button. I shut my eyes and bit my lip.

"Edward? Bella?" I heard Jasper yell from outside the door. "Get the hell out of there, we're leaving!"

I heard Edward sigh as he slowly pulled away from me, looking up at my face. He looked disappointed, as usual, but I just smiled down at him. "At least he didn't walk right in like everyone else," I reminded him.

He shut his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

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**So, I am seriously considering changing the rating to M, you know, for future chapters. I think I'm already kind of pushing the line :P**

**Sorry that this chapter is so short, I'll try to make the next one longer. And more eventful.**** Thanks for all of the reviews, they're all very helpful. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. :)**


	14. Dinner

The walk to the restaurant wasn't that bad. Awkward, but at least Emmett wasn't screaming at Edward the entire way there. He probably would've been more distracted if Rosalie was there, but she had left before we had. She said that she remembered she had to get something done first and would hopefully meet up with us. I wanted to scream at her for this; she was my last hope, she was supposed to distract Emmett for me. How could she ditch me like this? No one else seemed to mind that she wasn't there, even Emmett seemed fine about it. Actually, he was behaving himself quite well. It made me suspicious.

Edward's description was just about right; the place wasn't a bar, but it wasn't a very fancy restaurant, either. I wouldn't call it trashy, but it was very simple. We were seated right away, since there weren't that many other people there. I wasn't so happy about this, since I would've liked to stall this dinner as much as possible, but I had no choice now.

We were seated at a booth, and Jasper and Alice were the first ones to sit down. They were on the edge, and I was next to Alice. I had expected Edward to sit next to me, but instead, Emmett squeezed past him and took the spot next to me, making Edward sit on the other side, opposite from Jasper. Anger burned inside of me, and I bit my tongue to keep myself from yelling at my brother. He saw the expression on my face, and smiled at me. I forced a smile back.

We sat there for a few minutes, talking to each other, until Alice let out a small shriek. "There are no menus! And no napkins!" she announced. I looked around the table and the surrounding tables and saw that she was right. I looked up at her, and had to hold back my laugh when I saw the horrified expression on her face. Alice was so used to going out to fancy restaurants where she would be pampered, this was different for her.

"What do you expect, Alice? Besides, these sort of places all have the same food, so you don't _need_ a menu," Jasper explained to her. He started to rub her arm, trying to calm her down, but Alice was still terrified. She scanned the restaurant and pointed out all of the disgusting things in it, and suggested we escape before the waiter came. I didn't miss the glare Emmett shot at her when she suggested this, and that instantly shut her up.

Since Alice and I were new here, Jasper, Emmett, and Edward ordered the food. Alice cringed when Jasper ordered a hamburger and onion rings, and I just giggled at her expression. She shook her head at me, and then leaned her head against Jasper's shoulder.

The entire time we were waiting for our food, I was expecting Emmett to start questioning Edward, but he never did. Actually, he acted as if he wasn't even there. It confused me; Emmett wasn't the kind of guy who would stall these sort of things, but at the same time I was thankful. Emmett was very unpredictable sometimes.

When the food finally came, I turned down my portion, as did Alice. I gave mine up to Emmett and Edward, while Alice just requested that the food that had been ordered for her to be thrown away. Just looking at it made me lose my appetite, but it made the boys very hungry. They dug in, and didn't even complain when we turned ours down. Alice frowned when she stared at the food, and I knew she was in a bad mood. She looked up at me and gave me her puppy dog pout, which instantly made my heart melt.

"Don't worry, Alice. When we get home, we can order something to eat. We'll eat, and... watch a cute movie," I offered to her without thinking. She grinned at me, then turned back to Jasper. I sighed and sunk into my seat.

"So, Jasper," Emmett said. "What are you studying in college?"

Everyone turned to look at Jasper now. He was looking down at his plate, and I swore I saw a small blush touch his cheeks. Jasper didn't like to talk about his school work or his career choice,_ ever_. When I heard what college he was going to, I had asked him what he wanted to be once he graduated college, and he refused to answer me. He said that it would make me change my opinion of him, and that I would find out sooner or later.

"Jasper doesn't talk about those sort of things," Alice answered for him. "He won't even tell _me_!"

"You'd laugh, anyway," Jasper mumbled to her.

"Jasper, why would we laugh at that?" Alice asked him. She turned towards him, grabbing his face in her small hands and forcing him to look at her. "I love you. Nothing can ever change the way I feel about you."

Even though they weren't kissing or hugging, I still blushed at the intensity between Alice and Jasper. I cleared my throat. "I think you should be a psychiatrist," I told him. His head snapped up to look at me, making Alice drop her hands. "I mean, you always seem to know how I feel, even when I don't say anything. It's so weird, I think you would fit well in that profession."

Alice raised her eyebrows at me, while Jasper's eyes widened in disbelief. He stared at me for a moment, before he finally spoke. "How did you know?" he whispered.

Alice gasped. "_What_?!"

"I'm _right_?" I asked him, smiling.

"You finally cracked him!" I heard Edward shout. Jasper hung his head and covered his eyes with his hands. Alice reached out to him and started to stroke his hair. I suddenly felt very guilty.

"Jasper, that's awesome!" I told him. "Why would you be embarrassed about that?"

"Jasper thinks he's going to fail at everything he does," Edward informed me. Jasper shot him a glare, but Edward just laughed. "Even though he's an _amazing_ student, he's even better than I am in some subjects. And he thinks his choice is girlie, that he should be a football player instead."

I raised my eyebrows at Jasper. I knew Edward was a great student (Alice_ might've_ mentioned that), and if _he_ was saying Jasper was a better student than him, then it meant a_ lot._ I saw Jasper's lips twitch up when Edward mentioned this.

"Psychiatry, wow," Alice told him, still stroking his hair. "That's pretty amazing, Jasper."

"And it's not _girlie_," I told him. "If you wanted to be a manicurist, I would... not tell you you were _crazy,_ but I would think it was weird,_ for you._ Because that doesn't_ fit _you. This is perfect for you." This made him smile even more.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Emmett said, and then he turned to face Edward. I gulped. "And what do you wanna do, Eddie?"

I looked down at the empty plate in front of me, trying to block out their conversation. Alice and Jasper were too preoccupied with themselves to pay attention,_ or _come to his rescue. I knew Emmett hadn't given up.

I was really interested in what Edward wanted to be, but I didn't want to hear his conversation with Emmett. It was one thing I could live without ever going through.

I managed to block out the voices around me as I thought about other things: like college. I had been procrastinating a little; I was supposed to go on a tour of the campus_ today_, but I had skipped. Actually, I had never called to set up an appointment, I was supposed to do that _two _days ago. But I had been so wrapped up with things here, I had completely forgotten.

_If_ I decided to go to this college, which I only would if Alice did, I would get to see Edward every day. Maybe not every day, but I would see him a lot, and that just made me like the college even more. It was an amazing school, with a lot of opportunities. I still had no idea what I wanted to be, but if I went here, I would have so much time to decide. Maybe I would be a writer, or an artist. Maybe an English teacher, or- I sighed and decided to have that argument with myself later.

But what if I _didn't_ go here? There weren't that many places to choose from in the area, I would have to move away if I wanted to go anywhere else. And if that wasn't enough, Alice was pretty much set on this college, and I couldn't be separated from her. How would I be able to go years without seeing her? If I didn't even see her for a day, we would both become depressed. It's embarrassing to say, but Alice and I needed each other. We could not be separated, _would_ not be separated. And my parents? And my other friends, like Angela and Jake? How could I go without seeing them?

I was brought back to reality when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Emmett's grinning face. "Bells, did you hear that?" he asked me. My eyes widened, and I shook my head.

"Yeah, I've never seen your brother so impressed before, Bella," I heard Alice say. I turned to her and tilted my head to the side, which made her smile. "Edward said he wants to be a doctor."

"Like your dad?" I asked her. She smiled and nodded. I had always been impressed by Alice's dad, Dr. Cullen. He was the best doctor in town, and in many of the surrounding towns. People would drive for hours just so they could be assisted by him, and I had always been impressed. I smiled as I tried to imagine Edward like that.

"You find this funny, Bella?" I heard Edward say to me. I turned to him, the smile still on my face, and shook my head playfully. "Then why are you smiling?"

"Just trying to imagine you Alice's dad," I blurted out, smiling even more now. I heard Jasper choke on the food he was eating, and then Alice's high-pitched laugh. Apparently, they also got the image in their heads.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?" Edward asked me, raising his eyebrows.

"I think it's a compliment," I told him.

"Me too," Alice said between giggles.

Edward smiled at me then, but didn't say anything else. I smiled back.

"So, you and Jasper would sort of be doing the same thing, in a way," Emmett said.

"Yeah, Jasper would deal with mental issues, and Edward would deal with the physical crap," Alice joked. "And you would both fix things, and you would make people _feel good_. And-" Alice stopped herself then, finally realizing the double meaning in her words. I turned to look at her.

Jasper's face was already read, and he was cracking up. I could feel Emmett shaking with laughter. Alice's cheeks burned light pink, and she turned to look back at me. "What I meant was- uh, well, you would both prescribe things to your patients that would make them _feel better_, you know, _inside_. Medicine!"

"That isn't making it any better, Alice," Emmett said.

"I know, I know," she mumbled, and then burst out into giggles. It was funny how everyone was acting as if they were drunk, when no one had had anything to drink that night. Even I felt it, and it was weird. I hadn't felt anything like it before, it was like I was high off of life. It was _amazing._

After everyone had calmed down from Alice's accidental joke, I heard Jasper clear his throat. "So, everyone ready to leave then?" he asked.

"Yeah," Emmett said, and even though I wasn't looking at him, I could feel him yawn. "I think I'm going to go to my friend's house now. It's close by here, actually."

I froze from. Emmett was leaving, he wasn't even forcing Jasper to let him sleep on the couch in his apartment tonight. I wouldn't see him until tomorrow, Edward and I had as much privacy as we needed.

Before I knew it, Edward was standing up next to the booth, smiling down at me. "Yeah, let's go, then," he said.

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**I know my excuse for Rosalie sucks. But once I was finished writing this, I totally forgot that I didn't even mention her once. I don't know what I was thinking, and I didn't feel like going back and editing, I've delayed this update long enough. And it kind of fit in to what I had planned already, so I made up an excuse :) Thanks for being patient, I'll try to update soon.  
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	15. The Day After

**So let me just start off by saying that I won't have to change the rating, _yet. _Yeah, I know, I'm stalling. But I agree with the person who said that their relationship is going too fast, so I'm gonna make them wait :) Don't kill me, please. Haha, but enjoy the chapter!**

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Emmett took off once we were outside of the restaurant towards his friends house, but I had a feeling that he wasn't going to his apartment. Actually, I _knew_ this, because I knew where his friend lived, and Emmett had taken off in the wrong direction. As Emmett walked away, I heard Jasper say, "He's going to where Rosalie's apartment is. I didn't know his friend lived by her." And then he realized the same thing that I did.

Alice was leaning on Jasper as we walked back to the apartment, saying that she was extremely tired. I knew that meant that we wouldn't be ordering any food for us and that we wouldn't watch a movie tonight. As Edward and I walked, he made many attempts to grab my hand, which I pretended to ignore. But after a while, it became harder to hide my smile from him.

Just as I had expected, the minute we got into the apartment, Jasper dragged Alice into his room to let her rest. Apparently, she became very tired when she was hungry. He wished us a good night before he closed the door to his room, turning off the lights in the living room as he did. The only light left was the one coming from the kitchen.

I heard Edward sneak away into his room, but I ignored the sound. To be honest, I was tired, too, and my stomach was growling from hunger. I tip toed over to the fridge, making sure I was extra quiet for Alice's benefit. I snacked on an already opened bag of potato chips and some cookies as I sat on the kitchen counter, lightly tapping my foot against the cabinet beneath me. It was quiet now, and it was a nice silence.

I was brought out of the silence when Edward walked into the kitchen, wearing _only_ his pajama bottoms. I dropped the potato chip I was holding and it fell onto the kitchen floor. "You know, you_ really_ shouldn't walk around like that," I whispered to him. He just smiled at me, raising his eyebrows suggestively. "Do you know what time it is?" I asked him.

"It is very early in the morning," he told me. "So why are you eating in the kitchen? You _should_ be in bed, young lady."

"I was hungry, I didn't get to eat that much tonight," I mumbled. "And since when did I have a bed time?"

Once again, he didn't answer me. He did, however, move closer to me, putting his hands on either side of me on the counter. He leaned in even closer now, making me freeze in place. He lightly kissed my jaw, which instantly made me very light headed. I was already tired, and this did not help me at all. I shut my eyes and collapsed into Edward, resting my head on his shoulder. His hands instantly grabbed my waist to support me, and even though I was a little out of it, I heard him chuckle. He lifted me up and cradled me in his arms, letting my head rest on his chest. I could feel us moving away from the kitchen, and the last thing I heard him say was, "Oh, Bella."

--

The next morning, I could barely remember where I was. I did remember, however, that I had had barely anything to eat the night before, and the pain in my stomach confirmed that. I sat up in the bed I knew all too well and rubbed my eyes, adjusting to the morning light.

Of course, Edward was there. He was sitting on the far corner of the bed, staring at me as I woke up. I turned to look at his alarm clock, and saw that it was 10 AM. It seemed like a good time to wake up, but I was still so tired. I fell back on the bed and pulled the covers over my head, protecting myself from the light. I assumed Edward would let me sleep some more, until I felt him move around on the bed. Before I knew it, he was laying right next to me, pulling the covers away from my head.

"You're still tired?" he asked me. I nodded and turned on my side, facing away from him. I heard him laugh a little, and then felt his hand in my hair. He caught a stray curl and started to twirl it around his finger. "Do you want me to get you some coffee?"

"No, I would like to get some _sleep_," I mumbled.

"Well, you have all day for that," he said, scooting closer to me. I felt his arms wrap around my waist, and then felt his cool breath on my neck. It would've made me go insane at any other time, but I was too tired to notice our proximity.

It took me a few moments to register what he said; my reaction time was slower when I was tired. "Wait, what do you mean I have all day to sleep? Didn't Alice make some plans for us?" I asked him.

I felt him shake his head. "Remember that music festival we were supposed to go to?"

I sighed and shut my eyes. "Am I making you miss it?" I whispered to him.

"No, I let Jasper and Alice go, I said I wanted to stay here with you." What caught my attention was that he said he wanted to stay with me, not that he felt he should, or that he had to. He_ wanted_ to be with me, and _that_ made my heart pick up speed.

"You should've gone," I told him. "I think I would've been fine by myself."

"Well, maybe I didn't want to go. Maybe I just wanted you all to myself for one day," he whispered into my ear. I felt myself begin to smile.

"You are very selfish, then." I sat up, making him drop his arms from around my waist. I stretched for a few seconds, feeling my muscles protest against it. I still felt weak, and knew it would be best if I went back to sleep, but I was not going to waste any second I had alone with Edward. My big brother wasn't here to watch over me, Alice and Jasper weren't here to make comments about everything we did, it was a perfect opportunity to be with him.

"So what do you want to do, now that you're awake?" he asked me, now sitting up himself. I thought about his question for a second, until my mind started to wander. His question suddenly had a double meaning to me, and I felt embarrassed for even thinking that. _Bella, get your mind out of the gutter._

"I'm going to go get some coffee," I told him, pushing myself so that my legs were dangling off the bed. "And you can come with me, if you want." I jumped off of his bed and skipped over to his door, which was already opened. I didn't wait for him, because I already knew he would come with me.

But as I walked to the kitchen, I suddenly noticed that I felt different. I stopped, and looked down at my legs. I wasn't wearing my jeans anymore, I was wearing Alice's pajama shorts. And I wasn't in my tank top, I was wearing an over-sized blue sweatshirt. As I thought back to what had happened last night, I realized that I _didn't _remember ever changing out of my clothes. And then, it hit me.

Alice and Jasper were already asleep when Edward came looking for me, and I was too tired to change out of the clothes myself. I felt myself blush when I realized what this meant, but I had to ask him first before I came to a conclusion.

"Edward, what exactly happened last night after I passed out?"


	16. Apologies

"What are you talking about?" I heard him yell to me.

"I'm _talking_ about the fact that I'm dressed in my pajamas, when I don't remember ever changing last night," I told him.

He walked right past me, grabbing my right hand and pulling me into the kitchen. I tried to plant my feet on the ground, but he was too strong. Once we were inside of the kitchen, he turned to face me and grabbed my waist. He lifted me up and placed me on the counter so easily, I could feel the confusion on my face. He just smirked. "I didn't want you sleeping in your jeans, I thought you would be uncomfortable. You should be thanking me instead of being angry at me," he explained.

I sighed as I stared at him. I didn't really mind that he had undressed me; actually, I liked it more than I should. I was wearing a bra and underwear, wasn't I? I shifted around on the counter. Yes, I_ was _still wearing underwear. I reached up to my shoulder to touch my bra strap, but came up empty. I searched down my arm, thinking it had slid down, but it wasn't there. My eyes widened as I realized that I was no longer wearing a bra.

"Where is my bra, Edward?" I asked him. "Did you take_ that_ off, too?"

"No," he answered, looking very serious. "I left that one on."

"Then why aren't I wearing it?!"

"I don't know, maybe you took it off while you were sleeping," he told me. "But I swear, Bella, I didn't take it off." He put both of his hands in the air as if he was about to surrender, still smirking at me as he did.

"Edward, I don't normally take my bra off at night."

"Well, you _do_ talk in your sleep," he reminded me, his smile growing. "Who knows what else you do? Maybe you sleep walk, too." I didn't answer him, I just continued to stare at his perfect face, waiting for some kind of answer. Or confession. "Bella, stop looking at me like that," he demanded.

I looked up at the ceiling, keeping my mouth shut. I knew it was childish to give him the silent treatment, but he wasn't telling me everything that had happened, and it made me angry. I swung my legs back and forth, accidentally kicking him in the knee, but I ignored it. He put a hand on my thigh to stop the kicking, and my heart instantly reacted to it. But I acted like I didn't happen, and continued to gaze at the white ceiling.

Suddenly, he grabbed my face and forced me to look back at him. I fought against his iron grip, but it didn't help me. I sighed and looked into his sparkling eyes, and knew I wouldn't be able to ignore him much longer. "Stop being such a little kid," he told me, still smiling. "I'm telling you the truth."

"That doesn't make it any better," I mumbled. He smiled even more.

"How about I make it up to you? I can make you breakfast," he offered. He took a few steps away from me to grab a bowl from another cabinet, not even bothering to wait for my answer.

"Actually, I'm not that hungry anymore," I lied. "I think I'll go... I don't know, read a book or watch a movie. Or maybe visit my brother, and tell him how you _took my clothes off for me last night_. Without asking me. Or even bothering to tell me before I noticed. No, I don't think he'll get angry about _that_." I bit my lip to hide my smile, aware of the thick sarcasm in my tone.

"Are you threatening me now?" Even though he tried to keep his voice even, I could hear the fear in it. He thought I would _really_ go rat him out on my brother. Now I could no longer hide my smile, so I nodded at him. He narrowed his eyes as he took in my expression. "You wouldn't..."

"Wanna bet?" I said, jumping off of the counter.

He reacted immediately; he dropped the bowl he was holding on the counter and jumped towards me, wrapping his arms around my waist to secure me. I struggled to get out of his grip, but, once again, I found it impossible. "No, I know you wouldn't," he whispered. "You like me too much to rat me out."

I scowled at him. He was right, I would never do that to him, but it was so much fun to mess with him. He began to walk now, still keeping his arms around my waist, which me to walk along with him. He brought me to the couch and pushed me back onto it, and then sat down next to me. I was about to jump off the couch to run to the door, but he secured me by putting his arm around my shoulder and pulling me towards him. Again, I tried to hide my smile. "So if you don't want to eat, then what do you want to do?" he asked.

"You are being very unreasonable, Edward," I told him. "You undressed me last night, and now you're treating me as if I'm the bad guy. Can't I have a_ little _freedom?"

"Why are you making such a big deal out of this?" he asked, turning his head to look down at me. "Because it's not; you were passed out, and I got you into your pajamas. I'm sure you wouldn't be so angry if it was Alice instead of me."

"Yes, because Alice isn't a _boy_-"

"Are we in second grade, Bella?"

"- and I've only known you for two days."

He sighed and gripped my shoulder even harder, smiling down at me. This was entertaining him. "Bella, can you just forget about it?" he asked me.

I pressed my lips together and turned my head to look away from him. It was hard to think straight when I was looking at him, and right now, I didn't need to have my thoughts tangled up. "Maybe," I finally replied.

"How about I make it up to you, then?" he quickly offered. "I could take you out to dinner tonight, or I could buy you something, or-"

"Edward, please," I interrupted him, placing my index finger over his perfect lips. I turned to look back up at him, and saw that he was pouting. "You don't need to waste any money on me, I'm not that kind of girl."

"If it's for you, Bella, then I'm not wasting anything," he whispered against my finger. He raised his eyebrows as he waited for me to answer, but I couldn't seem to find my voice. I felt him smile now. "So I take that as a yes, then? I can take you out to dinner tonight?"

He didn't let me answer; he let go of my shoulder and pulled my hand away from his lips. He leaned down so that he was level to me, and then kissed me very gently. If my eyes weren't wide open, I probably wouldn't have been able to tell that he was right in front of me.

When he pulled away from me, I knew that he had gotten what he wanted. I couldn't think anymore, and I probably couldn't even speak. So when he asked me if he could take me out to dinner again, I just nodded my head without thinking twice. I regretted it later, but I had no choice now. No matter how hard I tried to change his mind, he said that I had told him I would go, and that I couldn't go back on my word. "It's the only way I can apologize to you," he told me. I didn't want to say it out loud, but I knew that there were _many other ways_ that he could apologize to me.

Later that day, when I was about to pick out my clothes for the dinner, I heard my phone ring. I pulled it out of my pocket and looked at the screen. 'Alice'.

"Hey Alice," I said once I answered the phone. "What's up? How's the-"

"Bella, do you know where Edward is taking you tonight?" she asked me. My eyes widened at her words; I hadn't told her about it yet. I guessed that Edward might've told Jasper, and that's how she had found out, so I decided to play along.

"No, why?" I asked her.

I heard her click her tongue a few times before answering me. "Does he know who works there?" she asked, ignoring my question.

"Uh, he said he's been there a couple of times, so I guess he does. Alice, why? Is something going on?" I questioned her.

"Nope, nothing at all" she answered quickly. "Have a good time!" And then, she hung up.


	17. Dinner Surprise

Alice's call had frightened me, but only a little. I decided to forget about it, and didn't bother mentioning it to Edward when we were walking to the restaurant. Halfway through our walk, he reached out and grabbed my hand. I turned to look at him then, and I saw what he was wearing for the first time. I hadn't bothered to look before we left; he had just come out of the shower and I was still going crazy over his perfect face at that moment. I saw that he looked just as simple as I did. I had slipped into one of Alice's dresses; it was blue and looked very simple. He was wearing a gray long-sleeved shirt and dark wash jeans, and I didn't even bother to look at his shoes. The clothing was clinging to his skin, not leaving much to my imagination. I blushed and looked away, something I also regretted.

We were walking out in public, and there were many people around us. Most of them went to the same college as Edward, and as we walked by, some stopped by to say hello to him. Actually, now that I thought about it, a lot of people stopped to look at us, but mostly look at _me_. Every girl that walked by us made sure to glare at me, and Edward noticed this, too. He let go of my hand and, instead, grabbed my waist, pulling me closer to him. And whenever a large group of girls passed by, he would kiss the top of my head. This always infuriated the girls, who now not only glared at me, but also at him. And every time they did, he would laugh. I didn't find any of this funny; it actually scared me. Dozens of_ college _girls now hated me because I was walking around with Edward, and who knew how many people knew about me now? But if this was what I had to pay to spend time with Edward, then I decided I would live with it.

Soon, we were at the restaurant, and I knew this because it was the only one there. Everything else was either a clothing store, a tattoo parlor, or a club. _Typical,_ I thought, smiling to myself. But once we were right outside of the doors, Edward stopped. He gripped my waist as he stared inside, and I couldn't help but follow his gaze. I narrowed my eyes as I realized he was looking at a girl. She had long blonde hair and an_ interesting _face. It wasn't attractive, not like Rosalie's, but it was _different_, not something you would see everyday. The way she was standing, the way she looked, it annoyed me. Everything about her bothered me, and I didn't even know her yet. I sighed and looked back up at Edward. "What's the problem?" I asked him.

"She's here," he mumbled. "She told me she quit."

"Who, that girl?" I asked. "What's the big deal? There are other waiters in there, we probably won't get her. We can just walk _around_-"

"No, Bella, she's not _just_ another girl," he explained. "That's Lauren, didn't I tell you about her?"

I felt my jaw drop when he said her name. "_Lauren_? Your ex-girlfriend, Lauren?" I looked back at her, and saw that she was flipping her blonde hair around. I rolled my eyes, taking a few steps away from the door. "Why did you bring me here, then?"

"Bella, she told me she quit a long time ago," he told me. "I didn't know she was still here."

I suddenly remembered Alice's phone call._ 'Does he know who works there?' _I shut my eyes and mentally cursed that little pixie for not telling me this earlier. "Alice knew," I told him. "But she wouldn't tell me. She called and asked if you knew who worked here, but didn't say anything else!"

"Let's go somewhere else, then," Edward whispered, grabbing my hand again. He spun around and was about to walk away, when we heard the front door open. I tried to stop, but Edward didn't. I knew he would've continued to walk away from the restaurant, until we heard a voice come from behind us.

"Edward?"

Edward froze in place, but I snapped my head back to see who had called him. I raised my eyebrows as I stared at Lauren, who was now staring at my hand, which was intertwined with Edward's. Suddenly, she looked back up at me, and much to my surprise, she forced a smile on her face. I'm sure I looked very disgusted at that moment.

"Hello Lauren," Edward said as he turned around. He forced a smile on his face, matching hers perfectly. He looked very panicked, and I was sure he was very nervous about seeing her again. I squeezed his hand.

Lauren took a few steps forward, now looking directly at me. "Is this your cousin, or something?" she asked. "She's very cute." I bit my lip to keep myself from laughing, and decided that I would let Edward answer the question for her. I leaned into him a bit more, and he instantly released my hand to grab my waist again. "Well, you two are very _close_," she mumbled.

"No, Bella's not my cousin," he told her. "She's a friend of mine- a _very good _friend of mine."

Lauren's face brightened at his words. "Oh, she's just a friend? That's nice."

I turned my head up to look at Edward, my smile spreading across my face. "Oh, I wouldn't say we're just friends, at least not anymore," I joked. He looked down at me, and I winked at him. He smiled back; he was going to play along, too.

I looked back at Lauren, and she forced out a laugh. "That's really... uh-" she began, but Edward interrupted her.

"Oh, I'm sure you don't want to know all of the dirty details, Lauren. So we'll just go, I'm sure you have to get back to work," he told her. She cringed at his words, and I had to stifle my laugh. "Bye."

"Bye," she mumbled, before she turned on her heel and stomped back into the restaurant. Edward was already walking away, pulling on my arm, but I stayed in my place. When she went back in, she walked straight to another waitress there, and immediately began screaming at her. She was flailing her arms around, and when the other girl asked her something, she just turned and pointed at me. The other girl looked at me, and her eyes widened when she saw I was looking back. I smiled at her and waved, and then Edward finally managed to pull me away.

We laughed as we walked away from the restaurant; we had both thought that the situation would turn out very dramatic. He apologized over and over for ruining the dinner, and I kept on reminding him that it wasn't a big deal to me. I told him several times that I wasn't hungry, but the sounds my stomach was making proved otherwise. He gripped my waist as he pulled me along to another place, once again not telling me where we were going.

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw where he did take us: an ice cream stand. He pulled me up to the stand, and ordered one cone with two scoops of chocolate ice cream, with sprinkles on top. I looked up at him in confusion as he paid. "What, can't we share one?" he asked, his eyes widening innocently.

After he bought the ice cream, he led me over to a small corner of the street. There was a wall that came up to my waist, and he easily picked me up and placed me on top of it. There were other people around us, most of them staring in our direction, but I ignored them now.

It was a little weird sharing an ice cream cone with Edward, at least for me. _He_ thought it was funny. Once, when our noses accidentally touched, he laughed at how easily I blushed by it. I rolled my eyes and pushed the ice cream into his nose. He immediately jumped back, and I had to laugh when I saw the chocolate ice cream all over his nose. He walked back over to me, and I could see that he was angry. I smiled and stuck my tongue out, licking the ice cream off the tip of his nose.

I heard him laugh, and then suddenly, he was hugging me. He held me so tight, my arm felt awkward holding up the ice cream cone. There wasn't that much left, so I decided to drop it, and wrapped my arms around him. It had started to get cold outside, and I didn't feel it until now. Edward was so warm, it was like I was wearing a sweatshirt now, and it felt so right to be in his arms. I didn't care that we were sitting out in the open, with many curious eyes on us. I didn't care that half the school probably knew me by now, after just one small walk with Edward. I didn't care that Lauren knew about me, and probably hated my existence. No, I didn't care about those things, because I was here with Edward, who always seemed to make things better for me. Deep inside, I knew that if I was like the other girls, watching Edward walk hand-in-hand with a new girl and watch him hug her and kiss her in public, I would be just as jealous as them. Edward was perfect in every sense, any girl would die to be with him, and he had picked _me._ Plain, simple me. It still shocked me, but I wasn't about to ask him why he liked me so much. I just cherished this moment, because I knew that soon, we would have to walk back home and I would have to see Alice and Emmett again. Soon, it would be over, but I refused to think about it now. Now, everything was perfect.

* * *

**I got the idea for the ice cream from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory :) Haha, I'm watching it right now, I absolutely love it. "Everything in this room is eatable, even_ I'm_ eatable! But that is called cannibalism, and is frowned upon in most societies."**

**I promise I'll update more often now. Trust me, I know how you guys feel. Thanks for the great reviews, I really appreciate them! :)**


	18. Author Note

**Sorry I haven't been updating. I've been having some problems with my mom (I know, sounds lame), and she's limiting my time on the computer. Plus, she's not that fond of my obsession with Twilight; she doesn't seem to like vampires and werewolves as much as I do :) If she's mad at me for reading the books, then I don't even want to know what she'll do if she finds out I'm writing fanfics for the book. Especially fanfics that aren't exactly PG :) And, to be perfectly honest, I can't think of anything to write. I've had some ideas, but now they all seem kind of stupid. So give me a few days to think of some new ideas.  
**

**So, I just felt the need to post this. I'll update soon, I promise, just once my mom calms down a bit. And once I start getting some new ideas. And once I get a lock on my door.**


	19. Compromise

**I'm at my aunt's house right now, and I had to steal my cousin's lap top so I could get this chapter up :) I would've gotten it up earlier if her Internet wasn't in Russian, because then I'd be able to read what I was doing, but somehow I worked it all out. Thanks for understanding why I couldn't update as much, and thanks to everyone who helped out. You guys are amaziiing! Enjoy!**

* * *

By the time we got back to the apartment, Alice and Jasper had already passed out in their bedroom. I quietly sneaked inside and grabbed Alice's extra pair of pajamas (she was _always_ prepared), and then nearly ran to Edward's bedroom. I caught a glimpse at the clock in the kitchen, and saw that it was only 9 PM. It wasn't late at all, but to me, it felt like it was one in the morning. All I wanted to do now was to go to bed and sleep.

But, of course, Edward had other plans. I didn't see him when I walked into his room, so I guessed that he was in the bathroom. Knowing that I was alone, I jumped on his bed and quickly got under the covers, getting myself comfortable. But the minute I got nice and comfortable in his bed, he walked into the room and jumped on the other side of me, making the bed bounce violently. He rested his head on the pillow, but didn't get under the covers like I did. He was laying on his side, staring at me, while I tried my hardest to ignore him.

"Aren't you tired?" I mumbled to him.

"Why would I waste my time sleeping, Bella?" he teased while reaching out to grab a lock of my hair. He began to twirl it around his finger, never taking his eyes off of me.

"Because it's good for you?" I said, though most of my answer was muffled. I could feel myself slowly start to fall asleep now. It felt nice laying in Edward's bed; the sheets were silky and the pillows always felt cold. And his smell was everywhere, I couldn't get enough of it. I knew that I would hate having to go back home to sleep in my own old bed. With that in mind, I pulled up the covers to my chin and snuggled into the pillow, sighing in content. I might as well make the most of my time here, right?

--

When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I did was reach out to find Edward. When all my hands could find were the sheets and the empty pillow he slept on, I became suspicious. I shot up and scanned the room, but I was unable to find him. I swung my legs off of the bed and stood up, stretching out my arms as I did. I stumbled towards the door, but froze when I reached it. I heard two voices outside, and quickly realized that they belonged to Jasper and Edward. They were whispering, so I knew that they either didn't want Alice or me to hear what they were saying, or they didn't want to wake us up. I pressed myself against the wall and tried to be as quiet as possible as I listened in on their conversation.

"You ran into Lauren yesterday?" Jasper asked him, his voice so low that I could barely hear it.

"Yes, it was... horrible, I didn't know how Bella would react to her," Edward told him. I could imagine him ruffling his beautiful bronze hair at that moment, and had to smile at the image. "But she wasn't freaked out. She actually seemed very calm about it."

"You're telling me that shy, little Bella was completely calm when meeting your ex-girlfriend? Your ex-girlfriend, who I'm sure could even scare herolder_ brother_?" Jasper whispered back, laughing a little at the end. "That's... odd."

"I know, she's amazing, isn't she?" I heard some movement then, and pressed myself harder into the wall. I closed my eyes and tried to act invisible, but I knew that it wouldn't help. Thankfully, no one came towards his room, so I was still safe. I did hear Edward laugh then, and the sound made me open my eyes again.

"She's a keeper, Edward," Jasper joked. "And I don't think her brother will be bothering us that much anymore. Rosalie called last night," he told him, chuckling. "She said that Emmett was _sleeping over_ at her place for the rest of his trip, and she was telling me how happy she was that Bella decided to introduce them. So you can finally sleep again, without having to worry about him breaking into the apartment in the middle of the night and murdering you."

Edward laughed again, and the sound was like music to my ears. "Yes, thank god for that," he mumbled. "And I guess I should also thank Alice. If it wasn't for her and her evil little mind, Bella wouldn't have ever come here. It's weird what a connection they have; when I first saw them, I thought they had to be sisters, or cousins, or something like that."

"Alice tells everyone that they're sisters, it's easier than explaining everything. So now, everyone on campus thinks that Edward Cullen's new girlfriend is Alice's big sister," Jasper told him, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

_"Everyone on campus?_" Edward asked him, his voice becoming slightly louder.

"Did you really think Lauren would keep her mouth shut about this? Alice got so many phone calls and messages last night asking about you and her 'sister', it drove her insane. Didn't anyone call _you_?" Jasper questioned.

"I haven't been using it for the past couple of days," Edward confessed. "I've been a little too... preoccupied to talk to anyone else, or call anyone."

"Wow." Yes, _wow._ Edward was putting his social life on hold so he could be with _me_? I felt like a criminal, like I was stealing his life away from him. But I wanted to spend every minute here with him, I didn't want him to share his time with anyone else. But how could I even it out for him; how could I make it so that he could spend time with me, and his other friends? And then, it hit me.

I immediately stood up and brushed off my pajama shorts. I opened the door a bit more and stepped out, ruffling up my hair so that it looked like I had just gotten out of bed. I even managed to fake a yawn as I stepped into the living room. There, I found both Edward and Jasper sitting at the table, now staring at me as I walked into the room.

I walked over to Edward's chair and leaned against it, smiling at both of them. Edward reached out and grabbed my waist, pulling me down so that I was sitting on his lap. His other arm snaked around me and pulled me tightly against his chest. He rested his chin on my shoulder, and I could feel his breath fan my neck. It gave me the chills. "Well, hello to you, too," I mumbled to him, which made him laugh.

"Good morning, Bella," Jasper greeted me, raising his eyebrows slightly. I felt my heart start to accelerate as I stared at him. He looked very suspicious now, and something told me that he knew I was eavesdropping the entire time. But, then again, it could've just been my mind playing tricks on me. So I smiled at him, before turning my head to face Edward.

"What are we doing today?" I asked him.

He shrugged and smiled at me. "Whatever you want to do."

I hesitated for a second before answering him; this was exactly what I wanted him to say. But now that Jasper might know about my eavesdropping, would it be too obvious to ask him what I wanted to? I pressed my lips together as I fought with myself, but in the end, I decided to give it a try.

"I want to meet some of your friends," I told him. "You know, other than Jasper. Except I don't want to meet Lauren again, she wasn't what I would call an _angel_."

I saw his eyes widen in disbelief for a moment, but then his expression quickly changed. He smiled my favorite crooked smile and pulled me even closer to him. "Whatever you want to do," he whispered to me, before releasing his hold on me. I jumped out of his lap and he also stood up, glancing at Jasper for a second. "Alright, I'll just go... find my phone, then," he announced. He then turned on his heel and walked over to his bedroom, leaving me alone with Jasper. I sat down in his empty chair and turned to look at Jasper, who still had his eyebrows raised at me.

"You are a very sneaky girl, Bella," he whispered to me, a small smile appearing on his lips.

"I know."

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**Sorry for such a short chapter, I'll make the next one longer and better, promise :)**


	20. Unexpected Visitor

I had no idea where Edward would be taking me today, so I dressed in a simple, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts. I stole Alice's favorite pair of sandals, hoping she wouldn't notice they were gone once she woke up. As I was walking around Alice's room, I suddenly heard my phone ring. I glanced around, not sure where it was coming from, and started looking through a pile of clothes she had made on the floor. After a few minutes of searching, I finally found it, and flipped it open without looking at the screen. "Hello?" I said.

"Hey Bells!" Emmett screamed back, making me jump up. I glanced over at the bed where Alice was still sleeping, checking to see if she had woken up yet, and was thankful that she hadn't heard Emmett's scream.

"Hey Emmett, can you please try to whisper? Alice is still asleep, and I'm stealing her favorite pair of shoes. It would be great if she didn't wake up right now," I explained to him quietly.

"Sure," he replied in what he thought was a whisper, but to me, it still sounded like a scream. I rolled my eyes as I quickly remembered that Emmett didn't know _how_ to whisper, it wasn't a common thing for him.

"Alright, what do you want?" I asked him.

"Nothing, just checking up on you," he told me. "How's it going?"

"Emmett, I saw you two days ago. Nothing important has happened to me, but I've heard a little something has been going on between you and Rosalie," I teased him, smiling to myself.

"WHAT THE HELL?! WHO TOLD YOU THAT? WAS IT JASPER?! I SWEAR I'M GONNA-"

"Keep your voice down!" I whispered to him. I heard Alice stir under the sheets, but she didn't get up.

"What did you hear?" he yelled back, more quietly now.

"Nothing, I just heard that you were staying at her apartment for the rest of your trip. Why, has something else been going on?"

"Bella, please don't tell dad," he was suddenly begging. "You know he never trusts me around girls, and I don't want him to find out. Please, Bella, please?"

I let out a small giggle at his tone; it made him seem like he was five years old. "I won't tell dad about Rosalie if you won't tell dad about Edward," I compromised.

"Deal," his answer was simple.

"I'll call you later, Emmett, alright?" I told him, and hung up before he could answer. I didn't want him to change his mind about our deal, and I really did want to hurry up so I could be with Edward. I put my phone in the back pocket of my shorts and tip toed out of the room, closing the door quietly behind me.

The minute I closed the door, I was suddenly in the air. If I hadn't felt Edward's arms around me and didn't feel him hugging me, I would've thought I was flying. My hand shot up to cover my mouth, muffling the scream I let out. Edward simply chuckled and began to walk out of the apartment, still carrying me. I couldn't see his face, but I saw everything that was going on behind him. I saw the apartment slowly fade away as we walked out and I saw him kick the door shut. I saw the hallway, filled with other apartments, as he carried me to the elevator. And then he finally set me down, smirking down at me. I fought the urge to start screaming like a little girl.

"What was_ that_ for?" I asked him, my tone not as angry as I had wanted it to be. I could never be angry when I was with Edward, it was impossible.

"I wanted to go already, and you were a little too slow," he joked, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Aren't you eager to meet my friends, too?"

I bit my tongue to keep myself from answering, because the truth was, I could care less about who Edward's friends were. They didn't matter to me; I didn't care if they liked to sit at the library all day and liked to read comic books, or if they went around killing people for fun. It would bother me if any of them_ did,_ but I would still love Edward even if his friends were horrible. I only wanted to meet them so that he could have more time with them; I didn't want to take over his life like that.

Soon we were walking down the street, hand-in-hand, just like before. I still wasn't sure about where we were going, and after a few minutes of walking, I became very curious. I turned my head to look at him, and blurted out my question. "Where exactly are we meeting your friends?"

Edward shrugged and smiled at me, instantly making my heart melt. The effect he had on me was endless. "I don't know where they are, so I thought we'd just walk around until we find them," he told me.

I stopped. "We're just _walking around the town_? Without knowing where we're going?" I asked him, letting the horror of our situation color my tone.

"Don't worry, Bella," he told me. "This place isn't that big, I'm sure we'll find them in a matter of minutes. And we won't get lost, I know my way around town." He squeezed my hand to reassure me, but it didn't help that much.

So we kept on walking, and soon we were in an area that had a lot of shops. I could tell Edward wasn't really looking for his friends, he was mostly looking at me as we walked. But, then again, I had heard about his popularity; I'm sure his friends would probably be out looking for _him,_ too.

"So, who exactly are we looking for?" I asked him, breaking our long silence.

A smile instantly appeared on his face as he leaned in closer to me, motioning to a small restaurant ahead of us. "We _were _looking for them," he whispered to me.

I narrowed my eyes to see who he was talking about, and soon it became obvious, because the large group of people was now standing and waving at us. There were quite a few people there, but only a few caught my attention.

There was one man who looked like he didn't belong at college, he looked old enough to be one of the professors. He had long, light brown hair that was pulled back into a low pony-tail. His skin was very tan, but not as tan as Jacob was. He was probably the only one who wasn't smiling at Edward or staring at me as we walked closer to them.

The second person I noticed was a blonde girl, who looked just like a Barbie doll. She had curls that ran down to her waist and big, wide, crystal blue eyes. She had a small face and looked very fragile, but not like Alice. Alice could pass for a middle school student, but this girl _looked_ like a college girl.

And the last two that caught my eye were Lauren and the girl she was with the other night. I dug my nails into Edward's hands as I stared at her. Lauren had a look of utter disgust on her face as she stared at me, but the other girl was smiling. The girl had short brown hair that was _beyond_ curly. She was waving at Edward, and then turned to wave at me. She stopped waving, though, when Lauren hit her arm. The girl dropped her hand, but continued to smile warmly at me.

When we were close to them, Edward began to introduce them to me. There were other people there, around five or six others, but I didn't pay much attention when Edward introduced them. I found out that the brown-haired boy was James, the blonde girl was named Tanya, and Lauren's "friend" was named Whitney.

I have no idea how long we sat with them, but time really did seem to fly by. I was happy to see Edward with his friends again, even if it meant that I had to sit beside Lauren the entire time. Whitney turned out to be a complete sweetheart; we talked for most of the time I was there. She told me she had also gone to Forks High School, and she had graduated the year I got there. I didn't remember seeing her anywhere, but I was glad I got the chance to meet her now. I didn't talk to James or Tanya the entire time; Tanya seemed a little too preoccupied with Edward, and James kept to himself the entire time. I didn't know why I noticed them out of everyone else, but there was something about them that caught my attention, and kept it.

It was funny how uncomfortable Lauren seemed the entire time. I was sure that she would rather get her hair pulled out than have to sit next to me, and have to watch Edward hold my hand or play with my hair. She looked like she was about to explode from all of her anger. And I'm sure it didn't help that Whitney was being kind to me.

Somewhere in the middle of the conversation, Lauren asked me a question. I'm sure she was trying to insult me, but I didn't hear her. Because, when she was talking, two people passed right by her. The girl looked down at me, and it took her a very long second to recognize me. Her eyes widened in disbelief, and a huge smile appeared on her face. "Bella?" she called out.

I had met Leah and Seth Clearwater when I went to visit Jake at La Push. Leah was always with him and his friends, and Seth usually tagged along. Since she was the only girl in Jake's large pack of friends, we instantly became close friends, since she could always relate to me. Her brother only liked me because he knew I was close friends with Jake; he always seemed to have a question about him.

I jumped out of my seat and ran around Lauren's chair. When I was in front of Leah, I instantly pulled her into a hug. "Hi! Oh my god, what are you doing here?" I asked her.

She pulled away to look at my face, still smiling widely. "My dad brought me down here to check out the college," she explained. "The trip's for me, but he dragged down my entire family. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here with Alice," I told her. "Her boyfriend lives here, and she wanted me to come down and meet him."

"Is that him?" she asked, motioning over to Edward.

I shook my head violently. "No, no, that's his room mate, Edward. Alice's boyfriend is Jasper, they're still at their apartment."

Leah raised her eyebrows at me, glancing over at Edward for a second, and then back at me. I smiled innocently, and she quickly dropped the subject. "Well, we're both stuck here, aren't we? Let's hang out sometime!" she offered. "You have my number, don't you? Call me any time and we can meet up."

Suddenly, a new idea hit me. If I went out for a night, it would give Edward a chance to be with his friends without me there to distract him. The thought pained me, but I thought it was for the best. So I nodded at her. "Alright, do you want to go somewhere tonight?" I asked.

Her eyes suddenly brightened. "Yeah! I met some people here, and they told me about this club that they all go to. I was planning on going tonight, want to come?"

I gulped. "We're underage," I whispered.

"So?" She rolled her eyes at me. "You think they really check for IDs here? Come on, it can be just you, me, and Alice. Please?" she stuck out her bottom lip and widened her eyes innocently.

After a few minutes, I decided it was the only thing she would want to do tonight. I sighed and smiled warmly at her. "Alright, fine," I told her. "Call me later, so we can talk about where to meet up, okay?"

She began to bounce in place, and then lunged herself towards me, pulling me into a hug. "Alright, Bella. And I promise you'll have fun, trust me!" she reassured me. She then let me go, smiling one last time at me and waving at the group of people behind me. She then grabbed her brother's hand and continued on her way, the smile never leaving her face.


	21. A Change of Heart

"Bella, why are you doing this to me?" Edward asked as we walked back into his apartment. "Do you _want_ to be away from me?"

"You are _crazy_," I told him, dropping my bag in front of the door and walking over to his room. "What's wrong with hanging out with my friend?"

"What's wrong is that I won't be there," he said, following me into his room. He shut the door behind him, and quietly walked over to me. "If I wanted to spend time with my friends, I could spend time with my friends, but I don't want to be with anyone else but _you_."

Suddenly, I was being pressed against the wall. Edward's lips felt like they were everywhere all at once. One second, he was kissing my cheek, the next second, he was running his lips across my collarbone. He pressed me harder against the wall, and I had to bit my lip to keep any noises from coming out. Suddenly, his lips were at my ear, softly biting my earlobe. "Don't you want to be with me, too?" he whispered. I thought I was going to collapse.

He didn't give me a second to respond; he pulled my shirt up so that my stomach was bare, and slowly ran his fingers over the newly exposed skin. The trail he left was like fire against my skin, which now felt freezing. I shivered under his hands, but he didn't stop. His fingers trailed up my body, going under my shirt, and stopping when he got to my bra. His hands ran over the lacy material, until he was suddenly touching my back, trying to unclasp my bra.

It took all of my being to try to stop him, because I'm sure he knew that I didn't want him to stop. I reached up and grabbed his arms, shaking him a little. "Edward, this really isn't a good time," I breathed. "I'm supposed to call Leah, and I need to tell Alice, and-"

"You can do that later, Bella," he whispered to me, finally unhooking my bra. He didn't remove it, he was in too much of a hurry to do that, so his hands slid under the material. His hands really were like magic, driving me insane, but I had to control myself. I couldn't let this get too far.

"Edward," I moaned. "Please, not now."

"Are you saying you don't want me?" he teased.

"No, I do, it's just-"

"Then I'm not going to stop," he replied.

I let out a sigh. "What do you want me to do, lie and say that I _don't _want you?" I whispered back harshly.

He didn't answer, he just slid his hands back down my stomach, until they were resting on the zipper of my jean shorts. He didn't unzip my pants, like I had expected him too, but instead, he pulled them down a little, until my hip bones were sticking out, no longer concealed by the shorts. He ran his hands down my sides, and I swear I heard him whisper 'So beautiful', but I was too distracted to pay attention to anything else but his hands. But just as I was about to protest again, my feet were no longer on the ground.

A second later, I was on the bed, and now my shorts were completely off. Suddenly Edward was on top of me, kissing me urgently. Whatever I had been planning to say to him slipped from my mind, and I quickly wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me. He ran his hands up and down my bare legs as he continued to kiss me fiercely. "Do you still want me to stop, Bella?" he asked, his lips moving against mine.

I opened my mouth to reply, but my words were caught in my throat. I couldn't think anymore, and I probably forgot how to speak again. I could feel him smirk against my lips, and then he was kissing me again.

I tried my hardest to think things through, to try to remember why I was so against this in the first place. The first thing that popped into my head was that his friends were waiting for him, and Leah and Alice were waiting for me. We were supposed to be spending the night with other people today, and this thought instantly pained me. I sighed and pushed him off of me.

"Listen, Edward," I mumbled. "We can't do this now, but later..." I stopped myself from saying anything else, and shook my head violently. "Leah is taking me to this club tonight, I think it's called-"

"Venom?" he interrupted me, chuckling a little.

I nodded, shutting my eyes. "Yeah, that one. Bring your friends there, and we can pretend like we didn't plan it, okay? I don't want to stay away from you tonight, but we already made plans, and-"

I was quickly silenced by his lips. "Sounds like a great plan," he mumbled. "Now get out of my room."

His tone was so sarcastic that for a second, I didn't take him seriously. But then he picked me up and pulled me away from the bed, setting me down outside of his bedroom door. I could feel the shock on my face, but the smirk on his told me that he _was _joking. As I stood outside his door, I took in the sight in front of me. He was shirtless, though I didn't remember him ever taking off his shirt. His hair was messier than usual, and his eyes were excited. He had a few pink spots on his cheeks, and a small bruise was beginning to appear on his neck. It took me a second to realize that _I_ had given him that.

And then, he shut the door in my face, laughing as he did so.

I had to drag my feet away from his door and to Jasper's bedroom, where I was sure Alice was. I heard a chuckle come from the table, and turned to see that Jasper was sitting there. "Have a fun time, Bella?" he asked, looking me up and down. I was sure I looked like a mess.

"Yes, uh, nice to see you too," I mumbled, not sure what I was even talking about. With that, I ran into his bedroom and closed the door behind me. I wasn't surprised to find Alice sitting on the bed, staring down at two outfits she had assembled, obviously trying to decide which one she would wear and which one I would wear. I glanced down at the outfits, and hoped I wouldn't have to wear _either;_ they shouldn't even be considered clothing, they were so skimpy!

Her eyes shot up to meet my gaze then, and she smiled sweetly. "Ready to go out tonight?" she asked.

"Don't you mean, 'Ready to break a few laws tonight'?" I spat.

She rolled her eyes and waved her hand at me. "Oh, please, Bella. No one is going to care, and they don't even check for IDs there," she told me. "And even if they did check our IDs, I'm sure these outfits will give us a free pass." She motioned to the two outfits in front of her, and I cringed away from the bed. She giggled and rolled her eyes again. "And you _will_ be staying away from Edward tonight, right?"

I brought my right hand behind my back, pretending to pull on my shirt, but instead crossed my fingers. "Right."

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**I don't really like this chapter, it all felt kind of rushed, but I wanted to get it posted. Still, tell me what you guys think :)  
**


	22. More Surprises?

We had to get out before Edward or Jasper could see us, which was very hard for me, because I could barely move in the outfit Alice had picked out for me. She had to drag me out of the apartment and to the car, and thankfully, we had gone unnoticed. I knew Alice wouldn't suspect I had given Edward any information about where we were going tonight; she didn't know I could be that sneaky. And I also knew she would just think that it was a coincidence, seeing as this club, Venom, was _the_ _only_ club around. She wouldn't have been surprised if we ran into her parents there, if they were staying here with us. There wasn't much to do around here.

I had offered to pick Leah up from wherever she was staying, so our first stop was to her place. She was staying with her aunt and cousins, and we soon found out that they lived in a small house not that far away from where Edward and Jasper lived. Alice didn't seem as excited as I was to see Leah, since she didn't approve that much of my friends in La Push. Leah was a little stubborn sometimes, but when she wasn't, she was great to be around. We drove in silence to the club, except for the sound of the radio, which was barely audible.

Leah and Alice very awkward, but I was just excited. I had never done anything like this at home, I wouldn't even go to house parties there. I guess the reason for that was the fact that my dad was the police chief, and that if the police was called to one of the parties and he caught me there, I would have the worst punishment out of everyone. There was also the fact that there wasn't much of a nightlife in Forks. The last party I went to was Seth Clearwater's 11th birthday party, and that was a few years ago. I had no idea what to expect tonight.

It wasn't hard to find parking; most of the people there had walked to the club. The line didn't seem that long, much to my disappointment. While we were waiting to get inside, I was literally shaking with fear. What if we got caught? Would I never get accepted to the college? Would it go on my record? The only reason I didn't sprint back to the apartment was because Edward didn't say anything when I told him we were going here, and that _really_ said something. If he knew that it would've been dangerous for us to go, he would've refused to let me out of the house. But he didn't, and he had even planned to meet us here. If Edward approved, it couldn't be that bad, right?

Once we were at the front, I had stopped shaking. The bouncer looked us all up and down, taking much longer than necessary when looking at me. It made me shiver. Thankfully, he let us inside without another word. Alice squeezed my hand and pulled me inside, and I grabbed Leah's hand so that she knew where we were going. This was _not_ a place where anyone wanted to get lost.

It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the lighting. It was pitch back, except for a few colored lights that were flashing on the dance floor. It was a huge club, with many rooms. Directly in front of us was the dance floor, already filled with people. On the far right was a sitting area, with candles surrounding it. There were tables surrounded with chairs and a few couches, though no one was there yet. On the left was a huge bar, already surrounded by people. I dragged Alice and Leah away from that area before they got any other ideas. I pulled them onto the dance floor, and we immediately started to dance.

"Damn, Bella, who knew you could dance like that?" Leah screamed, giggling like a little girl. I stuck my tongue out at her. The only reason I would ever dance here, in public, was because it was very dark, and the light rarely shone on the area we were standing in. If anyone wanted to see me, they would have to be very close, or would have to be staring at me and _only_ me to see what I was doing. It didn't feel like I was in a club with hundreds of other people when it was this dark, so I let my guard down.

"Come on, let's see how many guys we can get with_ this_," Leah suggested. She pulled me towards her and grabbed my hips, laughing yet again. I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arms around her neck. I looked around, but Alice wasn't there anymore. I had no time to say anything about it, though.

The minute Leah and I started dancing together (well, it was more grinding than dancing), all of the men around us seemed to notice we were there. Five minutes ago, we were completely invisible. Now, I was starting to get self conscious. I'm sure Leah would've kept on dancing through all of the whistles and yells we were getting, she enjoyed this sort of stuff. I had heard about the parties in La Push, parties I had always been invited to, but never went to. This was like the weekend for her.

I had no idea how long we danced for, maybe for a couple of songs. After a while, she twirled me around so that my back was facing her, and pressed me to her so there was no distance between us. I had to laugh at loud now; this little move seemed to please a lot of guys around us. As we danced, we got numerous offers from guys to go get some drinks, or to go sit down for a while, which Leah all declined. She could've danced all night like that if she wanted to, and it surprised me that I wanted to, too. I liked all of the sudden attention we were getting; it was starting to get to me. Leah always loved attention, and I'm sure she had no plan on stopping the attention we were getting at that moment.

So I was surprised when she loosened her hold on my hips, and dropped her arms all together. Some guys complained, but I was too busy looking back at her to pay attention to them. She was looking at something in front of me, and she had a smile on her face. I swirled around and found myself face to face with...

"James?" I blurted out. "What are you doing here?"

He smirked at me, glancing back at Leah for only a second. "I came down here to meet some of my friends, I didn't know I would run into you. Is Edward here?" he asked, his tone very sarcastic. I'm sure he thought my dance with Leah meant more than it really did. I pressed my lips together.

Once he realized I didn't plan to answer him, he turned his attention to Leah. "Can I get you ladies something to drink?" he asked. I looked back at Leah, who was nodding furiously at him. I widened my eyes, as if to warn her, but she blew it off. I turned back to look at James, and saw that he was walking over to the bar.

Leah was suddenly in front of me, pulling me along as she walked after James to the bar. "Leah!" I whispered to her. "This is insane! We're already in a 21 and over club when we're _obviously_ not 21, and now we're going to drink? How many laws can you break in one _night_?"

"Bella, you worry too much. A nice, handsome stranger is offering to buy us both a drink, and one drink can't _hurt_."

"YES IT CAN!" I whispered loudly to her, but she ignored me and pulled my arm even harder now.

When we were at the bar, James ordered three shots. Leah took hers automatically and gulped it down, as did James. I had a better plan; I poured my shot into the fake plant that was standing by the bar, and then slammed my glass back on the counter, as did the other two. James asked us if we wanted another round, and I declined. Leah, however, decided that she could try another one.

After they had five more shots, Leah decided she needed to use the restroom. I offered to go with her, but she declined my offer. So I was left standing with James, who was starting to become a little drunk. It was awkward, standing with one of Edward's best friends without him there, but could I really just run away?

Suddenly, he was gripping my arm, _hard_. I tried to wiggle myself free, but he only grabbed my arm tighter. He pulled me closer to him, and I couldn't help but be stunned by his unusual beauty. He wasn't beautiful like Edward, but he was a different kind of beautiful. His face wasn't one you would see everyday, and it was definitely one you would remember.

"It was nice to bump into you here, Bella, but I have to admit, I was a little curious when I first saw you," he confessed. "Edward usually doesn't go for girls like you."

"Like _me_?" I asked him.

He smiled slightly at my question. "You've seen some of his ex girlfriends, do they really look like the kind that are looking for long-term relationships?" he questioned me. "Come on, I know you're a smart girl, I'm sure you know that Edward likes to have some quickies once in a while."

I blew off his statement and tried to avert my eyes, but he only pulled me closer to him. This forced me to look at his face, something that didn't help me out in this situation.

"So, tell me, Bella, why are you staying with Edward here? I just _have_ to know," he whispered to me, and I could smell the vodka in his breath. I wrinkled my nose. "He told us you were just a friend, but I highly doubt that. And if you _were_ more than friends, why did I see you grinding against that girl?" He clicked his tongue, and then smirked at me. "Is someone being unfaithful to Eddie?"

"Why would you even think that-" I began, but was quickly interrupted by him.

"You know, Lauren doesn't exactly approve of you," he quickly changed the subject. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him; as if _that_ was news to any body. "I guess you can say that she had a fun time with Edward, while it lasted. She's surprised how quickly he's moved on, and who he's moved on to. Some_ high school_ chick-"

"I graduate in one month, I'm a legal adult," I told him.

"But to Edward, you're just another notch in his bedpost, aren't you?"

"We're not like _that_," I spat out. I had no idea why I had to defend myself to James, someone who I once thought was kind and shy. He turned out to be the exact opposite.

He slid his hand up and down my arm, stopping at my bare shoulder. I mentally cursed Alice for making me wear a tube top; it would've been better if I was wearing a turtleneck, and it would give him less to touch. I looked down, and saw his other hand move to my bare legs. Again, it would've been better if I was wearing sweatpants instead of the tiniest pair of shorts Alice owned. I swatted his hand away before it could get any closer.

"Feisty, aren't you?" he mumbled, his smirk becoming more evident. But then, his expression changed all together.

Suddenly, his hand was off of my arm, and someone elses hand was on_ his_ arm. He turned to face whoever it was, as did I, and I'm sure we both felt two very different emotions when we saw who it was.

"Stay away from her," Edward whispered harshly to him, so low that I could barely hear him. James didn't need another warning, he was gone before I could look back at him. Edward gladly took his place in front of me, reaching to grab my hands. At that exact moment, Leah came bouncing towards us with Alice at her side. Alice didn't look quite as upset as I had expected her to at seeing Edward, she seemed a little relieved. Leah looked like she was the happiest person alive at that moment, much to my confusion. I sighed loudly once they finally reached us.

"You two have the worst timing _ever_," I told them. And when I turned to face Edward, it took more than a few seconds to untangle my thoughts. "And you... are a life savior."

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**I've been running around my house all day, trying to find something to do while I wait for Breaking Dawn, so I decided to post this chapter. I've been editing it for a while, but right now, I have to get my mind on different things. My parents think I'm absolutely crazy now, but I can't help it. My friends have told me some spoilers about the book, but I'm trying my hardest to forget about them. Less than five hours! At least for me :)**


	23. Who Sleeps Until 1 PM?

**I was going to update last night, but instead I went to go see Pineapple Express with my sister. And I'm going to see it again tomorrow night :) That movie made me laugh so hard, just thinking about it makes me wanna laugh. So, sorry for not posting this earlier.**

**Oh, and as for Breaking Dawn, I stopped reading it once I got to part three, and I haven't finished it yet. That book made my head hurt. I already know what happens, because my friend ruined it for me, and to tell you the truth, I don't really want to read the last part. She told me that if part one and part two confused me, then part three will really give me a huge headache :)**

**Well, enjoy!  
**

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Edward pulled me away from Alice and Leah, who had already a new round of shots. I followed him as he walked towards the exit of the club, not questioning him until we were finally outside. "Edward, where are we going?" I asked him.

"He might still be in there," he told me. It didn't take long for me to realize he was talking about James. "I don't want to be here the same time he is."

"What about Alice and-" I began, but was quickly silenced.

"They'll figure it out," he mumbled. "They're not stupid."

Before I knew it, we were standing in front of a small, black Mercedes. Edward was holding the door open for me, and I gladly jumped into the seat. The car was nice and warm; I preferred that to the chilly air outside. Edward slid into the driver's seat and started the car quietly, and soon, we were speeding down the streets.

"Whose car is this?" I thought out loud.

"Jasper's," he answered simply, not looking over at me. His face was serious and very intense; he looked like he was deep in thought. And then, as if a light bulb had turned on in my head, it hit me. I smiled widely.

"Someone's a little_ overprotectiiiiive,_" I sang quietly.

He instantly snapped his head to look at me, his eyes deadly. "What are you talking about?"

"I understand that you wanted to get me away from James, but we could've stayed at the club," I informed him. "We didn't have to jump into a car and speed home. It's dark in that club, Edward, we could've gone unnoticed for the rest of the night. But no, we just had to escape the wretched place, didn't we?"

He gripped the steering wheel, the veins in his hands and his arms popping out of his skin. He_ was _angry, but obviously not at me. It was almost like a confession, like he was admitting to over reacting. I wasn't going to tell him how glad I was he _did_ over react; I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the night with him.

Somehow, we were already parked outside of his apartment. I was too busy trying to mentally calculate how we had gotten here so fast that I didn't notice him open my door for me. He gently grabbed my hand and lifted me out of the car, wrapping his arms around my waist. I felt my heart skip a beat.

"Maybe you're right, I _am _a little over protective sometimes," he whispered lazily into my ear, letting his breath fan my neck. He ran his hand up and down my back several times, pulling my shirt up a little every round. "But how can I not be? Any man would die to have a girl like you."

"Gee,_ thanks_," I mumbled back, still breathless from our proximity. I was well aware of the fact that one of his hands was now gently drawing patterns on my back, while the other slid down to the back pocket of my shorts. My body felt colder than usual, and his hands felt like they were literally on _fire_. His fingers left a burning trail wherever they contacted my skin, making me shiver several times.

"You know it's true," he whispered back. And then, suddenly, he was playful. He kissed my cheek lightly and pulled his hand out from under my shirt. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and tugged on it gently. "Come on, Jasper isn't home right now," he added suggestively.

"And what do you think we're going to do, then?" I asked him, raising my eyebrows in the darkness. He tensed up, but continued to pull me towards the apartment building.

After a few moments of hesitation, he finally came up with a good cover up. "We can watch a movie," he told me.

"Is that what you _really_ want to do, Edward?" I teased.

"No." He didn't hesitate this time.

I took a few steps closer to him, leaning my head on his strong shoulder. He instantly relaxed, and I relished the warm feeling of his body against mine. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Don't be, we can watch... _Star Wars_," he said slowly. It was obvious in his tone how disappointed he was, and how disgusted he seemed about watching a movie tonight. I could tell he had other plans for tonight, plans that he obviously was going to try to convince me to into.

"Then maybe we don't have to watch a movie. We could always do something else," I offered, not catching the double meaning in my words until they spilled out of my mouth. I cringed.

"Like what?" Edward pressed.

I searched for a good excuse in my head as we stepped into the elevator, which, apparently, we had been waiting for for the past several minutes. I didn't know why I was blanking out tonight; I had only had one shot, so I couldn't have been drunk. What was wrong with my head today? "We could... watch the news, or read the newspaper," I offered. "Or sleep. That's what people typically_ do_ at night."

I felt his body shake as he quietly laughed, and then felt his lips on the top of my hair. "You're so silly, Bella," he mumbled.

--

"Guys? _Guys_! Wake up! It's already 1 PM, how long can you guys sleep for? God, you're worse than _Emmett_!" A soft voice played in the background, slightly muffled. I felt myself shaking, which instantly made my eyes shoot open. It took a second for my eyes to clear up, and when my vision was clear, I could see Alice standing in front of me with her hands planted on my shoulders. Her eyes were wide with excitement.

I quickly scanned the room we were in, and saw that it was the living room. I looked down, and saw my original bed lying under me. The TV was still on, but it was on mute. Then, I glanced to the figure lying next to me. Edward was there, his eyes still shut, his lips slightly parted. He was shirtless, but I could tell, and fell, that he had put his pajama pants on, since my right leg was twined with his left.

"What time did you two fall asleep?" Alice questioned me, her voice suddenly more high-pitched. "_Who_ sleeps until 1 PM? Hm? What did you two_ do_ last night that was so exhausting?"

It took her a few minutes to understand the situation I was in.

I had the covers up to my shoulders, but it was obvious I wasn't wearing a t-shirt under all of the blankets. My hair was always messy in the morning, but the way it looked now was insane. The same went for Edward's hair; his hair was always tousled, but now, it was more out-of-place than usual. Her eyes glanced down at the floor, where my tube top and shorts were lying shamelessly next to the couch. On the handle of the couch were Edward's pants, which were inside out. Hanging on the lamp that stood on a table by to the couch was my bra, and on the actual table was my underwear. My heels were over by the dining room table, and Edward's shoes were no where to be found. She gulped.

"No!" she whispered in shock. "You didn't!" She brought her hands up to cover her mouth as her eyes widened.

I shook my head in disbelief. "I know, I'm stupid," I whispered back. "I haven't even known him for a_ week_, Alice. I wouldn't give into Mike when he asked, and I have known him for so much longer than this. I'm stupid, I'm such a slut." I propped myself up on my elbows, bringing my left hand up to rub my forehead.

"If you think you two work fast, then you're wrong," she snorted. "You should _hear_ my story with Jasper."

* * *

**Sorry for it being so short. Details coming next chapter ;)**


	24. Another Author Note

**Thanks for all of the reviews, I'm still working on the next chapter. I'll try to get it up later today :)**

**I just wanted to post this to tell everyone that Road Trip has been nominated at the Twilight Awards for the All Human AU round. Thanks to whoever nominated me! :) Voting starts tomorrow, I'll post the link to the site on my profile later.**

**Also, this story has been linked to another Twilight fansite, Bella's Lullaby. The link is on my profile right now.**

**Thanks again for all of the support, I seriously didn't think people would like this story this much when I first came up with it. I guess I was wrong, though :) And, again, sorry for not getting the next chapter up yet. I'll get it up by tonight, or early tomorrow morning, I promise :)**


	25. Recollections

**I've delayed this long enough. Enjoy! :)**

**So, I'll just warn you right now: This isn't all x-rated. So if you were expecting a hardcore sex scene, then go read another story. I'm not good with details :P If someone IS good at writing that sort of stuff, though, PM me. I really want someone to beta this story, or at least write out the lemon-y parts for me. I'm not an expert at those sort of things ;)**

* * *

"Alice, I really don't need to hear about your kinky stories with Jasper right now," I mumbled. I looked back down at the man next to me, and tried to plan my escape in my head. I sighed. "Can you find my shirt for me?"

A second later, my black tube top was being thrown at me. I sighed and pulled it over my head, trying my best to be quiet so I didn't wake Edward. I realized that if I pulled the top down, it could also be a very short dress. I snatched my underwear from the table and easily slipped them on. Now came the hard part.

I placed my left foot on the floor as I tried to separate my leg from Edward's. It was quite a challenge, I could see that there was no way to loosen his hold on me except to actually pull his leg off. So, very gently, I pushed his leg away from me, slowly pulling my own leg away from him. I then swung my other leg off the bed and jumped up lightly, pulling my shirt down to cover my butt.

"Well, that was easy," Alice murmured, shaking her head at my appearance. I groaned. "Alright, you promised me details. _Well_?"

"Can we talk about this somewhere else?" I begged her. I grabbed my shorts off the floor and slipped them on, trying to flatten out the wrinkles. "I really don't want to wake him up."

"Do you really want to go out looking like _that_?" Alice asked, her eyes skimming my outfit.

"It's better than being in here," I whispered back. I grabbed her tiny wrist and pulled off the rubber band she had on it, then pulled my hair back into a messy pony-tail.

Alice sighed and grabbed my hand, squeezing it gently. "Fine, let's go. But you have to tell me everything that you remember. Don't skip any details, alright?"

--

"Okay, what happened first?" she asked me once we were seated. We found a small coffee shop a few minutes away from the apartment, and were now seated outside with two hot cups of coffee. I sipped at mine slowly as I began to recall what had happened last night.

_Edward sat back on the couch, clutching the remote control in his hand. He pressed play, and the opening credits of the movie began to scroll by on the screen. I didn't see what movie was playing, and I didn't think he was paying attention to it, either. He could have put on Blues Clues and not have cared. For all I knew, we weren't going to be watching a movie tonight._

_He was staring at the screen, but I could tell he wasn't really watching the movie. I was standing by the dining room table, and took this as my cue to make my first move. I took in a deep breath, trying to slow down my rapidly beating heart, but failed miserably. There was no other way to let him know what I was thinking, I had to start somewhere. I could feel my cheeks burn up just by thinking about what I was about to do._

_I walked over to him slowly, giving him time to look over at me. He did_; _his eyes looked slightly panicked, and his lips were parted a little. I stopped when I was standing right in front of him, lightly placing my hands on his broad shoulders. He looked up at me, his green eyes dazzling me beyond belief. I had to sit down, I was already having trouble breathing. I had no where else to sit, except for his lap._

_I straddled him with my legs, snaking my arms around his neck. His breathing was uneven now, and I mentally patted myself on the back. That had to be a good sign, right? I felt his arms wrap around my waist, pulling my body closer to his. I was the same height as he was when I was sitting on his lap, something that seemed to work out perfectly. He inched his face closer to mine until his lips were lightly brushing over my own. I brought my right hand up to grab his beautiful bronze hair, pushing him even closer now. His lips attacked mine hungrily, and I responded exactly the same._

"Wow," Alice mumbled when I paused from my story. "_Hot_!" I looked up at her small face, and saw that her eyes were wide and her cheeks were bright red. I smiled nervously at her. I looked down at my coffee cup, staring at the pool of black inside. I stared down for a few seconds, until I heard Alice tapping her heel against the concrete floor. "Well?" she squeaked. "Continue, please!"

"Alice, it's... hard to talk about it. It makes me feel so_ embarrassed_," I confessed to her.

"It's just me, Bella. You can skip all to gory details if you want, but just tell me... is he as good as all of the college girls say he is?" she asked, her eyes bright with wonder.

_He quickly got my tube top off, throwing it aimlessly on the floor. My shorts were easier to take off; I quickly undid the only button and unzipped them, letting them slide down my legs. I kicked them towards my shirt, never taking my lips away from Edward._

_He slid his warm hands down my thighs, his fingers lightly dancing on my skin. He hastily pulled my heels off, throwing them towards the table. I heard a loud 'bang' come from that area, but was too distracted to notice. His hands lazily trailed back up my legs, obviously feeling around for my panties. His right hand slid over the lacy material once he had found them, while his left hand went directly for my butt. He squeezed it gently, and I smiled under his lips, pressing my chest into his._

_His right hand hooked under my underwear, caressing the newly exposed skin. His left hand trailed up until he found the tag on the back of my underwear, and began to lightly pull it down. I brought my hands to the bottom of his shirt, slightly raising the silky material. I tried my best to mimic his motions; my left hand pulled up the material while my right hand ran over his perfectly sculpted chest as the new skin was exposed. His muscles felt like they were carved into stone, as if he were a statue instead of a man. He hesitantly brought his hands up, allowing me to pull off his shirt. I threw it in the growing pile on the floor, and then brought my hands back to touch his beautiful body._

_His hands snaked up my back, and before I knew it, my bra was being flung across the room. He pulled his lips away from mine to look at my body, and I instantly blushed. I was glad that Alice had given a salad to eat for lunch instead of letting me order pizza; I would've looked like I was having a baby. His hands grazed over my flat stomach, leaving a burning trail as he moved, stopping once he got to my breasts. His hands felt like he had just stuck them inside an oven, while my skin felt like I was standing outside in a snow storm completely naked. The feeling of his skin against mine was too much to bear. He brought his lips to my neck, kissing me softly. His hands massaged my sensitive skin gently, and I couldn't control the moan that escaped my lips then._

"So he's that good, huh?" Alice asked after a few moments of silence. "So good, he's left you blushing like a tomato _and_ speechless?" She clapped her hands lightly, shaking her head slightly. "Kudos to him."

I leaned down until my head was resting on the cold metal of the table, trying to even out my breathing. Still, the images from last night flashed through my head like a movie. I couldn't control it anymore, it was like my body was showing me how much I enjoyed being with him now.

_He threw me back on the couch, and my back seemed to relax once it felt the soft material beneath me. He was hovering over me slightly, trying to make fast work of his pants. I reached my hands down until I felt the denim on my fingers, and then tugged down on the waistband. I could feel his lips turn up into a smile beneath mine. "Who are you, and what have you done with Bella Swan?" he murmured. I smiled back slightly. He was right, I was a different girl tonight. I had already taken the plunge by sitting down on his lap at first, so why should I go back to being innocent now? There was no point in it anymore._

_Once his pants were off, he grabbed my wrists and brought my hands above my head, letting them rest on a pillow that was on the couch. He moved his lips down to my neck, leaving butterfly kisses everywhere his lips touched my skin. He dragged his lips along my collarbone, making several rounds back and forth, before he began to trail back up my neck. I felt his burning hands on my thighs, gently caressing my skin, as hes sucked and bit at my neck. I turned my head so that my face was buried in his hair, inhaling his scent. So sweet, so addicting._

_He urgently slid my panties off, throwing them somewhere behind him. I didn't feel self conscious being naked in front of him; something inside of me told me that I would've ended up in this situation one way or another. My mind knew that I was too young for this sort of thing, even though all of my friends had already done it and had told me hundreds of their stories. But my body thought otherwise; my body wanted Edward, and my body wanted him_ bad._ I would've given into his wishes one way or another, I just hadn't expected it to happen this soon._

_He ran his hand up my body, starting from my knees. His fingers glided over my thighs, caressing my hips and my stomach, running over my breasts once again, before stopping at my neck. "I need you, Bella," he whispered softly into my ear. He pressed himself into my stomach, letting me know just how badly he needed me. Once again, I let out a small moan, pressing my lips into his neck. He seemed to take this as my permission, and he quickly pulled off his boxers._

"I don't remember much after that," I told Alice, pressing my cheek into the cold table. "I was sort of too into the moment to think about what I was doing."

"So he _was_ good," she concluded.

I let out a small sigh. "He wasn't good, Alice," I told her. "He was absolutely_ amazing_. Kind of like the stories Leah and Jessica told me about their boyfriends, only better. Nothing can explain how I felt when I was with him, absolutely _nothing_."

"Wow," she breathed. I sighed and reached over to grab her purse, shuffling through the items she kept inside. "What are you doing, Bella?" she asked me.

"You said you took my phone with you, didn't you? I want to call Emmett," I told her.

"Yeah, it's in there. My phone isn't, so just look for the only cell phone that's there."

I searched through her bag, bringing my face down so I could have a better look inside. I did find one phone, but it wasn't mine. This phone was an orange EnV; my phone was an old Sidekick. I pulled the phone out and held it out for Alice to see. "Was this the phone you put in?" I asked her.

She stared at the phone for a half-a-second, and then her eyes widened in disbelief. "That's Edward's phone!" she gasped. "I must have gotten them mixed up! I grabbed the first phone I saw, and... you had a red cover on your phone, so I guess my eyes must have deceived me..."

Before she even finished, I was looking at the menu on the screen of his phone, scrolling down until I got to 'Messages'. "Bella, what are you doing?" I heard Alice ask me, but I was too distracted.

He had ten new messages in his Inbox, and I quickly opened it up. The first three, to my disbelief, were from Lauren.

_'Hey, baby, I miss you'_ was the first one, sent just a few hours ago. I scowled at the screen, scrolling down to the next one. It was from last night, at around 10 PM.

_'It was nice seeing you today, we should hang out more often. Meet me tonight?'_

The last one from her was sent just after I had met Edward's friends, probably while I was talking to Leah. _'So you really like this high school chick, huh? You _know_ she'll never be able to live up to me, Eddie.'_

I felt the strong urge to drop his phone in my steaming cup of coffee at that moment.

"What is it?! What's wrong?" Alice's voice sounded panicked when she saw my expression. My mouth felt dry, I couldn't possibly speak at that moment, so I held the phone out for her. She grabbed it, and quickly skimmed through the messages. Her jaw dropped when she was done reading them. "Wait, so what does this mean?"

"I don't know," I spat out. "He could be meeting her right now!"

"Well, then that would basically mean he pulled a..." she began, but I quickly finished the sentence for her.

"A fuck and run!" I quoted Jessica Stanley, something I rarely did.


	26. Unexpected Surprise

"Alright, calm down, Bella, let's think about this," Alice began. "What if he hasn't read these messages yet? He hasn't been using his phone lately."

"Or what if she's at his apartment _right now_?" I shrieked.

"He wouldn't let her in, and she doesn't have a key," she explained, rolling her eyes. "Bella, stop making such a big deal out of this. Are you alright? Are you PMSing or something?" She picked up her cup and took a sip of her coffee, never taking her wide eyes away from my face.

"No, I'm not, I'm just worried," I told her. _Even though I have nothing to worry about._

Alice put her cup back on the table and dropped Edward's phone back into her purse. She then propped her elbows on the table, resting her chin in her hands, and stared at me. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at my panicked expression, and I tried my best to seem calm.

I tapped my fingers against my thigh as I skimmed the coffee shop. There weren't that many people here, but I did notice several of the people that_ were_ here glancing at my appearance. I had typical sex hair, and I'm sure my top was on the wrong way. I pulled it up a little, suddenly feeling very exposed, but it didn't help me calm down.

"Bella, why'd you do it?" Alice suddenly asked me.

I looked up at her small face, staring at her confused expression. "Do what?"

"Have sex with Edward."

My hands began to shake slightly, as the familiar blush came back to my cheeks. "Er, it's hard to explain, Alice."

She raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow at me, as her lips turned up into a smirk. "Can you_ try_ to explain it?"

I stared down at my hands, willing them to stop shaking. "Because... I have never met someone I had so much in common with. I have never met a boy who has read so many books and actually _likes_ them. He's so sweet, and so caring, and he pretty much saved me from James last night. And, well, it was bound to happen."

"So it was a 'thank you'?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

I simply shrugged. "Sort of."

"You know, when Jasper does something nice for me, I usually give him a kiss or a hug. But when Edward does something nice for _you_," she paused, leaning in so that only I could hear her small voice, "you give him your_ virginity?!_"

I leaned back in my chair, a coy smile forming on my lips. "Like I said, it was bound to happen."

Alice stuck her hand back into her purse, pulling Edward's phone out again. She pressed several buttons, and I saw her eyes scan the screen. "These messages are new, they're unread," she told me, glancing up to meet my gaze. "He hasn't even checked his phone in _days_."

"So that means-"

"You over reacted, as usual," she finished, dropping the phone back into her purse. She leaned back in her chair, her eyes once again narrowing on my face. She looked like she was debating with herself, deep in thought about something. something that was_ bothering_ her. I smiled, urging her to ask or say whatever she wanted to, and her expression eased a little bit. "Bella, did he use a condom?" she finally asked me.

At first, my eyes widened at her question. What was going on? Was she thinking of these questions on the spot? **_Are you PMSing? Did you have sex with him as a 'thank you'? Did he use a condom? _**I wasn't expecting these questions from her, not yet, at least.

My eyes then flickered down to the table as I tried to remember. I was a little too pre-occupied to think about that, as was Edward. I didn't remember him taking a second to put one on, or even getting up to find one. My eyes widened as realization hit me.

Alice seemed to understand my expression, and quickly began to reassure me. "Listen, Edward's not stupid," she told me. "If he didn't use one, you don't have to worry about _catching_ anything."

I looked back up at her, my brows furrowed in frustration. "What do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes impatiently. "I _mean_ that he gets checked. Of course he does, with the amount of girls he's been with. He _has_ to. And he wouldn't have done that to you if he knew he had something."

"That's not what I'm worried about, Alice," I mumbled, looking back down at my lap.

We sat in silence again, both of us waiting for Alice to realize what I meant. I fiddled with my hands while I sat patiently, until it seemed like a light bulb went off in her head.

"Oh!" she squealed. "You think you're-"

"I don't_ think_ so, I can't tell now, but Alice, I haven't even graduated yet!" I whispered to her. "What if I am..." I struggled to say the word now, as the seriousness of the situation began to hit me.

"... Pregnant?" she finished the sentence for me, her expression horrified. "I-I don't think you are. And... well, if you_ really_ are, then you'll be out of high school by the time you have the baby!"

"That's not so reassuring, Alice."

She reached across the table and grabbed my hand, and began to rub soothing circles into my palm. "Bella, you shouldn't worry about that _now_."

"Then when should I worry about it, Alice?" I spat out angrily. "When it's too late to _do_ anything?"

"It's too early to do anything, anyway," she told me calmly. I scowled at her, knowing that she was right. She continued to hold my hand for a few minutes, never taking her eyes away from my face. I just looked down at the table, trying to calm myself down, but failed. My heart began to relax after a while, though, but it immediately began to pick up speed when Alice dropped my hand and leaned away from me. I glanced up at her, and saw that she was staring at something behind my shoulder. Just as I was about to turn around to see what it was, I was in the air.

Two strong arms lifted me up by my waist, and I had to bite my tongue to stifle the scream that built up in my throat. I knew those hands all too well, and knew they meant no harm to me. Then, I was sitting back down, except now _he _was sitting on the chair and I was sitting on his lap. Before I looked at him, I stole another glance at Alice, and saw that she was now standing up. Jasper was standing beside her, his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him.

I was about to turn my head, when I heard his soft voice in my ear. "I missed you," he murmured.

"I haven't been gone that long," I whispered back to him, suddenly feeling very childish.

"Still, it was disappointing to wake up this morning and not have you next to me." His hands slid down my legs gently, leaving goose bumps wherever his skin touched mine. I found myself gasping for air again.

I now turned my head to face him, and was about to open my mouth to say something, but was immediately silenced by his lips. He pulled me closer to him, his arms tightening around my waist. I smiled into his kiss.

For a moment, I wanted to tell him about my worries; I wanted to tell him everything that Alice and I discussed, every fear that I felt in the past hour I spent in this coffee shop. I wanted him to comfort me, to tell me that whatever would happen, it would be alright. But a small part of me told me that I should keep my mouth shut for now. The future wasn't set in stone, and I didn't want to scare him off now.

Because the one thing a boy would never want to hear was that his girlfriend, who wasn't even out of high school yet, was pregnant with his child, right?

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**Volleyball tryouts start tomorrow and go until Sunday, so I won't be updating for the rest of the week. And then school starts again the week after that / I'll probably update sometime next week, but next Monday and Tuesday I'm going to be away on the school retreat. Yep, every year, on the first day, every grade goes to a different camp and spends two days there, getting to know each other and trying to survive off of what nature gave us. It truly is the worst part of the entire year, and it's mandatory. I just love my school.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing :)**


	27. Words of Wisdom

**So, some of you said that Bella should go out and buy some birth control. Actually, a lot of you said that :) But I know that you do need a prescription to get birth control (well, at least you need it here, I don't know everything there is about birth control) and I didn't feel like making her go through the whole process. And besides, I've read other stories where Bella gets pregnant, and I could never pull that off. So don't worry about that :)  
**

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Alice's words didn't make me feel any better, and having Edward by my side again didn't help, either. I was still so confused, so worried, even though it was too early to worry about anything. It was then that I realized that I needed another opinion.

I thought about calling Whitney for a second, but then decided not to. She was sweet, sure, but she could spill the beans to Lauren the moment I hung up the phone, and I didn't want the entire college knowing about this. If I called Emmett, he would come over and beat Edward up, without a doubt. I didn't want to call my mother, because she would surely have a heart attack if she found about this. Jessica was a gossip, and if I told her, all of Forks would think I was having a baby, and maybe even some of the surrounding towns. Angela and Jacob wouldn't understand; Angela was so sweet, so innocent, and such a prude, she wouldn't be able to help me. And Jacob was younger than me, and very protective; if Emmett didn't beat Edward up, Jacob surely would. So, that only left me one person to call.

I knew that I didn't have Rosalie's number, but I did have an idea. I skimmed through the call logs on my phone, and called the first unknown number I saw. Emmett must have called using her phone, so one of these numbers had to have been hers.

"Hello?" Rose answered after a few rings. I felt myself relax a little.

"H-Hey Rose, it's me, Bella," I stuttered.

"Hello, Bella," she answered simply. "Do you need to talk to Emmett?"

"No, I need to talk to you."

--

Talking on the phone didn't seem to be good enough for Rosalie; she wanted to see me, face-to-face. She insisted I come over to her apartment because Emmett wasn't there at the moment, and she said that he wouldn't be back for hours. So I walked to her apartment without speaking to Edward or Alice and without running into anyone I knew. By the time I got to her apartment, she was already sitting on the couch, clutching her pillow, waiting for me to tell her everything that I didn't tell her on the phone. And so I did.

"So, do you regret it?" she asked me once I was finished with my story.

"I don't know what I think anymore. I'm so confused." I made sure not to look her in the eyes when I talked to her, because that only made it so much more difficult. It was awkward enough for me, telling my brother's new girlfriend that I just had sex, and I didn't want to make it any worse.

"You can't know you're pregnant right now, Bella. It's going to take a few months for you to even notice anything different," she told me. "But if you do notice something different, and you want to talk to someone, just drive down here." She scrunched her nose as she looked at my face, as if she were thinking of something. "And if you ever do drive down here, bring your brother along with you, so I can be entertained."

"I'm sure he'll visit you _every_ weekend, Rose," I teased, but I knew it was true. She giggled and shook her head, but I did see that her cheeks were a little pink from my comment. Who knew that Emmett could make a girl like this blush?

"We're not here to talk about me," she reminded me, fanning her face a little. "Anyway, whatever ends up happening, I just want you to know that Edward really does like you. He's had other girlfriends before, and he has said that he loved them, but I could tell that he never really did. With you, it's different. And besides, I'm sure he'd be a very cute father."

"What do you mean, 'a cute father'?"

"Well," she began, "Edward really likes to spoil girls. If you had a baby girl, he would spoil her _rotten._ She would be his little princess! He would read to her every day and buy her every single dress in every single store. That little girl would be the luckiest daughter in the world. And if you had a baby boy, I'm sure he'd teach him how to play baseball or football, and how to style his hair perfectly. He's so affectionate."

"I don't care how affectionate he will be, I can't imagine_ me_ having a baby," I told her. "I _can_ imagine how all of my friends would react, and how my parents would react. It will be like living in hell, Rose."

I expected her to give me an apologetic look, or maybe pat my shoulder, but I didn't expect her to take my hand. She rubbed soothing circles into my palm, her eyes understanding. "Whatever will happen, you know you have me. And Alice, and Jasper, and Emmett, and Edward. We'll always be here for you, no matter what happens. You do know that, right?"

"I do now."

After a few seconds of silence, Rose released my hand and jumped off the couch, skipping over to the kitchen. I liked Rose much better now than I did a couple of days ago; she seemed more carefree now, and much kinder. It made me think that maybe my brother had something to do with it. I smiled as she searched through one of her cupboards, before pulling out a small bag. "Do you want to sleepover? We can watch a movie!" she suggested, ripping the bag open. She stuffed the popcorn into the microwave and pressed a few buttons, before starting it. "I don't think you want to spend the night with Edward again, after everything that has happened today, do you?"

"I guess you're right," I confessed. "Thanks, Rose."

"Anytime, Bella."

--

As I walked back to Edward's apartment the next day, a few small facts began to hit me. I hadn't seen Edward all day yesterday, and this was the first morning this week that I woke up without him next to me. Alice had no idea where I was, and if she knew I had been talking to Rose all day, she would probably feel betrayed. When Emmett did come back to Rose's apartment last night, he didn't even question why I was there. It was as if he knew that I needed to talk to Rose, as if he knew what was going on.

And I also realized that my days here with Edward were numbered.

In a few days, Alice and I would have to drive back to Forks to resume school. What would happen when Edward and I were apart? How different would things be? Would I still talk to him? Would he still care about me? Or would he move on to the next girl, like he always did before?

I was brought back to reality when I literally crashed into someone else that was walking, and was almost sent tumbling to the ground. The only thing that saved me was when the other person wrapped their arms around me and pulled me close to their chest, protecting me from anything around me. It was then that I realized who I had run into.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Edward, once he had placed me safely on the ground. "I was just coming back to your apartment..."

"Alice said she hadn't heard from you, and no one knew where you were," he told me, sliding his hands down my arms until they reached my own hands. "I got worried."

"So you went out on a search for me?" I joked, smiling a little.

"Of _course_ I did."

"Well, thank you for saving me from falling to the ground, _again_," I teased, taking a step closer to him.

"Anytime, Bella," he answered simply, wrapping his arms around me again. I leaned my head against his chest, breathing in his scent. He was still so sweet, even though he was so stressed out at the moment. He was always perfect, every second of the day. It really didn't seem fair anymore.

We walked back to his apartment together, his arm never leaving it's place around my waist. It was weird how nothing had changed between us, even with the events that had happened two nights ago. It had to have meant something; maybe Rose was right, maybe I was different from all of the other girls. Maybe Alice and I were wrong; maybe Edward would never run out on me after what had happened, even if he had an even better girl waiting for him. Maybe after I left, he would still visit me, and talk to me, and keep in touch. Maybe we could make this work. Maybe, just maybe...

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**Sorry it's short, and sorry it has taken me so long to update. Volleyball tryouts are over, for now, but there are more next week. I can officially say that I can no longer feel my legs after today. Have you ever slid down the floor of a gym, with no knee pads on? I did today, and I have the bruises to prove it :) I'm going to be in bed for the entiiiire weekend, trying to regain the feeling in my legs. Thanks for understanding, and thanks for all of the great reviews. They always put a smile on my face.**

**But, I think this story is coming to an end...**


	28. Short Goodbyes

**Sorryyyyy for not updating sooner. I will try to hardest to update again tomorrow :) And I know this chapter is short, it's short of a _reason._  
**

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"You know, even when you're gone, I'll still think of you all of the time." Edward dropped my bags on the sidewalk, replacing them by grabbing my waist. He pulled me extremely close to him, so close, that there wasn't any space left between us.

"I'll be back before you know it," I told him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He had just gotten out of the shower, and his hair was still fairly wet. I ran my hand through it gently, memorizing the color and texture of it. "I promise."

"Not soon _enough._"

"Now you're just being ridiculous," I joked. "I have to go home to graduate, and tell my parents about you, and to pack my things, and to say goodbye to my friends."

"You don't _have_ to do all of that," he whispered, taking a few steps closer to me. His lips were right by my ear now, his breath tickling my skin. "Stay, please."

"Edward, this is not a good time to seduce her, we're already running late!" Alice yelled, yanking one of my arms away from his neck. I stumbled back and almost tripped over the curb, but was saved by Edward's arms, which were still wrapped securely around my waist. Alice let go of my arm then, huffing angrily, before attempting to lift up one of her own bags into the trunk of her car. She ended up dropping the large bag on her foot, and before she could even complain about the pain, Jasper was already standing in front of her, kicking the bag away and pulling her close to him. She turned her face towards me for a moment, a sly smile on her face. "Fine, you can have one more minute to say goodbye."

When I thought about this moment a few days ago, I thought it would take us hours to say goodbye to each other. I thought I wouldn't have been able to leave, and would have to make up an excuse so my parents would allow me to stay for another week. But it wasn't as hard as I had imagined,_ definitely_ not as hard. The reason, I guessed, was that I knew that I would be back right after I graduated. I was smart enough to apply to dozens of colleges months ago, and my mother happily reminded me that I had gotten accepted to most of them. One of them happened to be the college Edward was attending, and many of the other ones I had gotten accepted to were in the area. So I knew that, no matter what school I chose, I would be close by.

The other reason I wasn't as upset about our goodbye was that Edward had promised to drive down to see me tomorrow, and refused to listen to what I had to say about it. I didn't mind, but I just didn't want him to waste his time driving down to see me, considering that I would be back in a few short weeks.

I kissed him lightly before pulling away, looking back to make sure I wouldn't trip over the curb again. "I'll see you tomorrow," I reminded him, raising my eyebrows. "Don't do anything stupid."

Edward took another step forward so he was standing in front of me again, and quickly pulled me back towards his chest. "You're not getting away that fast," he teased. He bent down and touched his lips to mine again, lingering for a few seconds. I could clearly hear Alice's heels tapping against the pavement, and I could hear Jasper's laughs coming from the front of the building. But Edward wouldn't let me go, and I had no plans on pulling away any time soon.

"HEM HEM! You guys can make out_ tomorrow_! Our parents are expecting us to be home in a couple of _hours_, not a couple of days!" Alice screamed. Now Jasper's laughs were louder, almost ringing throughout the entire street.

Edward smiled against my lips, running one of his hands up and down my back as his other hand reached over and lightly touched my stomach. He rubbed it for a few seconds, but didn't move his hand. He continued to smile as he did so, which finally led me to understand what he was trying to do, or _say_ to me.

My eyes shot open as I pulled my face away from his, waiting for his eyes to open as well. After a moment, his scorching eyes opened to meet mine, as a knowing smile spread across his face. I had to stop myself several times from wanting to tell Alice to go home without me, just so I could stay back and talk with Edward. I didn't bother thinking of the consequences I would have to face, because all I could think was, _He knew, he knew, he knew._

"Was it Rosalie?" I nearly screamed. "I had a feeling she wouldn't be able to keep her mouth shut. I_ knew _it!"

"Keep your voice down," Edward shushed me. "It wasn't Rosalie."

"BELL-AHHHHH! GET IN THE CAR!" Alice yelled. I was too preoccupied to notice that she had already slid into her car, and was now honking her horn repeatedly at me. "Bella, you have ten seconds to get in this car before I drive off with all of your stuff. You might not think of it as a big deal now, but you will feel _really_ stupid tomorrow, I promise you that."

I raised my hand and pointed my index finger at Edward's perfect face, letting my eyes scan over it one last time. "You owe me an explanation tomorrow," I told him.

"I'll be at your door step bright and early tomorrow," he said, his smile widening.


	29. Happily Ever After

Being home felt much better than I had expected; I had missed my room and the order I had it in. I missed my car, even though it ran like a piece of junk. I missed my neighbors who I barely even talked to, but it was still nice to pass by their houses again. I missed Angela and I missed Jake; it took a while to explain to them why I had never bothered to call. Jake was harder to apologize to than Angela was, because he insisted that I apologize to him _in person._

So I stretched out on my bed the next morning, shutting my eyes and tuning out all of the noise around me. I cleared my mind and, for once in the past few weeks, I focused on nothing. I tried my hardest to relax, and it felt nice. I didn't want this moment to end, but I knew that at any minute, Jake would come barging into my room. I was still in my pajama shorts and skimpy black tank-top, and I didn't want Jake to see me like this, even though he had numerous times before. Once we became close friends, it was as if nothing bothered me about him anymore, so I wasn't afraid to walk around in a towel around him. I knew this gave him false hopes, but Jake knew that he was my best friend and that he would always be _just _my best friend. But, either way, I wasn't in the mood to get up; I didn't want to change into uncomfortable clothes, I didn't want to move from my comfortable position. So I stayed on my bed for another half an hour.

"You know, Bella, the way you're laying on that bed isn't helping my self control," I heard Jake say as he walked into my room. I felt the weight shift on the bed as he sat down, and, suddenly, I felt his warm hand on my thigh. "Maybe I _would_ make a move on you, if you didn't have a_ boyfriend_."

I groaned into my sheets and kicked Jake's hand away. "Did Alice tell you?"

"I heard it from Jessica," he answered.

"How the hell did _Jessica_ find out?" I asked, but I really didn't want to know the answer. This situation had _'Alice'_ written all over it, but for some reason, I wasn't as mad as I should have been.

"I don't know, but who is he?" Jake asked me. He laid down on the bed besides me, and when I sat up, I saw that he didn't fit into my bed anymore. His feet were pressed up against the wall and his position looked very uncomfortable. But the look on his face didn't show any discomfort, he just looked simply interested.

"He goes to Jasper's college," I told him, not expecting him to know who Jasper was. But it _was_ easier to confuse Jake so that he would just drop the subject.

"Oh, so he's a college guy. I see, so you like the older men," he stated. "That's cool. But do you think Charlie would mind?"

"My dad isn't going to find out about this, okay? And if he does, I will get my revenge, Jake."

"Fine, fine." He sighed loudly, causing the bed to shake a little. "But you know what else I heard? And_ this_ was from Alice, not from Jessica. She told me you got pretty freaked out last week for no reason."

"She told you _that_, too?"

"Bella, you know you wouldn't be able to tell at all right now if you were... you know," he paused, peeking over at me. "You shouldn't even be worrying about that. And besides, even if you were..." He paused again, obviously having trouble saying the word.

"_Pregnant,_ Jake. _With child_. And I know I shouldn't be worrying, which is why I'm not."

"I know," he said. "But I'm just_ saying_... that if you were, you wouldn't be that bad of a mom."

"Aw, thanks, Jake," I said, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "That's really sweet."

He reached up to smack my hand away, but instead, he grabbed it into his own hand. He pulled my hand down so that it was resting on his chest and began to rub circles into my palm. He reached his other arm over and wrapped it around my shoulder, placing his hand on the top of my head. He tangled his fingers into my hair and began to gently massage my head, which caused me to giggle. "No problem, Bella," he said after a couple of minutes. "So, do I get to meet this guy?"

"If you plan on staying, then of course you do," a voice came from the doorway. I didn't have to look up to know who it was. I picked up my head to look over at Jake, and he frowned back at me.

"Jake, I think it's time for you to leave," I told him.

----

Edward took Jake's spot on my bed once Jake had left, and I welcomed him by turning around and giving him a kiss on the cheek. He pulled me closer to him, so close that all I could breathe in was him. No matter where I looked, his flawless face was there. I could feel him everywhere, he literally was all around me. But no matter how much I wanted to stay there with him, I knew there was something we had to talk about. So I lightly pushed him away and scooted farther away from him on the bed.

Just as I was about to say something, he spoke first. "Rosalie told me, so you shouldn't blame Alice," he said. "Rosalie just thought I should know what was going on, since you didn't seem to want to talk to me."

"There isn't anything going on, whatever Rosalie said wasn't true. I was just... scared, and I over reacted." I could feel my cheeks burning up as I said this, but I had to get it out, no matter how embarrassing it was.

"Then why didn't you talk to me about it, Bella?" He placed his hand on the side of my face and began to gently stroke my cheek, which he knew always drove me crazy. "Why did you talk to Rosalie and Alice, but not me?"

"Because I'm not in college, Edward. I'm in-between. I've never been in this position before, and I didn't know what to do. And I'm pretty sure _you_ wouldn't know what to do, either," I told him.

"You're right, I wouldn't have known what to do," he said. "But I would have cared for you, and I would have loved you just as much. You really think I would have left you just because of this? I would never do that to you, Bella. I wouldn't leave you even if you told me you had dated ten other guys before me, or anything like that, because I love you far too much to ever stop."

It took a few minutes for me to fully understand what he was saying, and while I was waiting, his smile only grew wider. "You know I love you, right? More than any other girl I have ever met. I know I might not be the_ smartest_ guy-" I opened my mouth to protest, but he placed his index finger over my lips to shush me, "but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing. I love you, Bella, and you make me so happy. I don't care if people think I'm crazy or if people think what we're doing is wrong, because they're not important. They don't know you like I know you, and no one knows me like you know me. And I really do hope you apply to my college, because you don't know what it would do to me if I got to see your beautiful face every day. Even if you don't apply, I hope you know that I won't leave you alone. You'll be seeing a lot of me every weekend, and every day I have off from school. You have me all tangled up now, and you'll just have to deal with how much I love you. Something like this won't make me love you any less, you have to believe that, Bella."

I could feel that my face was burning hot at that moment, but I definitely took his words to heart. There was nothing I could say in return, no speech I could recite that could beat his. So I simply smiled, and leaned forward until I was kissing him again. How else could I show him how much I loved him? There really were no words to describe how much I loved Edward, which is probably why I never got to talking about him with Jake, and why I probably would never have the time to talk about him to anyone else. No boy had ever gotten me to mix up my words like he did, and no boy had ever gotten my heart to over react like he always did. No guy could ever say something to me that would mean as much as what he had just told me, and I knew there wasn't a person on this planet that could know me and understand me as much as he did.

"I love you, too," I whispered against his lips, which were still turned up into a smile.

"Do you really want to lay around in this bed all day?" he asked. "Let's go somewhere."

"Edward, it's going to rain soon," I told him.

"How do you know?"

"It _always_ rains here."

"Well, as long as we're together, it won't really matter, will it?" He looked down at me with the most undeniable expression on his face, so, of course, I had to give in. His smile widened even more as he pulled me off of my bed and set me down on my floor. But before he left my room to let me change, he set his hands on my hips and pushed me up against him. I stood up on my toes until I was almost level to him, and he pressed his lips to mine once again. Even though we had shared hundreds of kisses before, every kiss still felt like the first one all over again. And that was why I knew this was going to last, no matter what college I applied to and no matter what person got in our way. I loved Edward more than I thought I ever could, and it still amazed me that someone like him could love me back. But, after all I had been through, it seemed like anything could be possible.

**the end :] sorry it took me about half a year to update, but here it is.**


	30. Author Note 2

**I know the story ended kind of on an open note. It was sort of to leave the possibilities open. But what ended up happening, at least in my head, was that Bella ended up going to Edward's college and she didn't end up pregnant. I'm sorry if the ending made some people upset, but I don't have all of the time in th e world. I tried to make it as great as I could, so sorry if it wasn't what everyone expected :]**

**If you guys really want a sequel, I wouldn't mind writing one. If you don't, I understand. But if you really do want one, PM me or write a review or something. Thanks a lot for reading! :]**


	31. AN

I won't be updating for a while. A few weeks ago, my mom passed away, and to be honest, I haven't been able to think lately. I can't write anymore. I've quit the school newspaper because I forgot everything. I just can't, I don't know why. Maybe I have writer's block, or maybe there's just too much going on for me to think straight or write correctly, but I'm not gonna publish work that is faulty. Once I start thinking properly again, I'll update all of my stories. But give me some time.


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